Christmas decorations appeared in stores the day after Halloween. The day after Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping season starts in earnest, and retailers hope the bucks will put them in the black.
With forecasters predicting overall declining holiday sales, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) plan to wrap up a big enticement a week before Black Friday. Each is offering a $100 gift certificate with purchase of a Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry phone and two-year service contract.
The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal sees a trend: "Deals on electronics such as the Wal-Mart and Amazon Blackberry offers are jumping the gun with [Target (NYSE:TGT)] and [Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)] also joining in with deals on laptops, DVD players and high-definition TVs."
Is this competition a savvy move, or desperate ploy? Does it matter whether it works?
Let us know what you think about this item and the forecast for the holiday season in the comments box below.
