LESTER HOLT, anchor:
The season of giving has given way to the season of giving back and cashing in on the post-
Christmas
bargains. Retailers who this year have been especially eager to brand every
big day
on the shopping calendar are calling this one
Mega
Monday. While no doubt a lot of weary shoppers are sitting it out, you wouldn't know it from the scenes that played out in many malls today. Asked to list their top reasons for wading back into stores this week, 82 percent in a
Consumer Reports
poll listed those post-holiday sales. Around half also said redeeming
gift cards
. While nearly a third said returning gifts was a top motivating factor, too.
HOLT:
All of which explains why
NBC
's
Ron Mott
has got lots of company there in
New York
's
Herald Square
tonight.
Ron
, it looks like a lot like the day before
Christmas
.
RON MOTT reporting:
Indeed it does,
Lester
. Good evening. The doors here at
Macy's
have gotten a pretty good workout today as a nation of re-energized shoppers are back on the hunt tonight, hoping to bag the biggest bargains.
Unidentified Woman #1:
OK.
MOTT:
From the
West Coast
...
Woman #1:
We look forward to it every year.
MOTT:
...to the nation's capital...
Unidentified Woman #2:
It is definitely worth going out the day after.
MOTT:
...on this day after
Christmas
, shoppers streamed into stores by the millions to buy.
Unidentified Woman #3:
The greatest deals. I'm impressed.
Unidentified Woman #4:
We split up and go get all stuff before anybody else can grab them.
MOTT:
Stuffing by one estimate $8 billion into registers today alone.
Unidentified Man #1:
Got to exchange it. Return it, get something that you want.
MOTT:
And to get retailers to buy back.
Unidentified Woman #5:
Enjoy your day.
MOTT:
According to the
National Retail Federation
about $46 billion in returns by season's end. And with up to 10 percent of all holiday revenues tallied this week, experts say sales floors should stay busy.
Mr. MARSHAL COHEN (Retail Analyst):
It's really about what I call frugal fatigue. The consumer is tired of living in this no spending bubble that they've been forced into, so they're now starting to step out and spend.
MOTT:
Discount was the
word of the day
.
Unidentified Woman #6:
Good sales. Everything is 75 percent off at least.
Unidentified Woman #7:
Like 60 percent to 75, which is nice.
MOTT:
The deals weren't limited to brick and mortar stores. They were online, too.
In Charlotte
, socks went for a song.
Unidentified Woman #8:
They said they were 2.99 but when I got to the register she had taken another 20 percent off.
MOTT:
Holiday decorations
for next year brightened up the savings.
Unidentified Woman #9:
All the LED lights, I cleaned them out.
MOTT:
Along with shoppers,
gift cards
, an estimated $28 billion in plastic funding many after
Christmas
purchases. A new
Consumer Reports
study found of the 113 million Americans who got them last year, one in four still hadn't used them. Not this couple. They've already swiped up their opportunity.
Unidentified Man #2:
You get a chance to use them right after
Christmas
.
MOTT:
But not everyone is in a shopping mood. Most Americans, 60 percent, will avoid the after
Christmas
crush altogether. The number one reason, stores are too crowded. Others are sick of shopping or they've simply run out of money.
Unidentified Man #3:
There's a whole lot of people in there, you
know what I mean
? So you can't really take your time.
Unidentified Man #4:
We saw a couple things that had gone on sale recently and that's what caught my attention, but I wasn't interested in buying any of it.
MOTT:
Final holiday sales numbers are due out in about two weeks. It should help determine whether retailers carry these aggressive discounts deeper
into the new
year than they'd really like.
Lester
:
HOLT:
Ron Mott
, thanks.
“ ”