With the holiday shopping season coming soon, consumers may be surprised to see something they have🧜n’t experienced in a while: lower prices.

In laying out projections for the 2024 holiday season, National Retail Federation (NRF) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matthew Shay said prices have moved lower this year for many items and categories, giving consumers a reprieve after facing 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:sky-high inflation for the past▨ several years.

“There's been real 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:deflation in the cost of goods, and so many retailers have cut prices on thousands of items,” Shay said.  “You can think of a couple of big retailers with national, if not global, footprints, who have literally cut their prices on thousands and thousands of items and SKUs (澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:stock-keeping units) across the whole store.”

The NRF thinks the lower-price environment will help store owners with sales. The organization representing 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:retailers projects an increase in holiday spending of between 2.5% and 3.5% compared with 2023 totals.

Deflation Coming to a Store Near You

Inflation has slowed across the economy in a process economists call “澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:disinflation." That means pri♊ces are still moving higher at a slower rate.

However, prices have retreated for individual items, potentially offering shoppers lower prices than they paid last year, S๊hay said. 

Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) monthly 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Personal Consump𝓰tion Expenditures (PCE) report on inflation shows this trend. While prices for food and services 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:continue to rise ♍at an elevated pace, prices for goods have either been less or par with prices from last year for each month in 2024. In August, prices for goods were almost 1% lower than the same month in the prior year.

Shay said retꦉailers will likely offer more targeted promotions during the holiday season, driving prices lower.

“I think it will be more targeted and personalized to individual consumers based on needs and interests, and I think it will be broader, across more brands and across more categories than we experienced a year ago,” Shay said.