美国零售商为假日购物季节做准备

US Retailers³ Gear Up for Holiday Shopping Season 美国零售商为假日购物季节做准备

It's the most profitable time of the year for retailers, accounting⁴ for 20 to 30 percent of annual revenue.

And this year, close to 150 million U.S. citizens will go shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, says Kathy Grannis Allen of the National Retail¹ Federation⁵.

"So this is our Super Bowl,” she said. “And this is really the one time in the year that the gloves are off and the competition just heightens."

To compete, some stores will open early and stay open later. Nearly all promise big savings⁶ to attract the maximum number of shoppers.

Bucking⁷ the trend

But this year, some retailers – including Nordstrom and Costco – will remain closed on Thanksgiving, while outerwear retailer² REI will be closed on Black Friday as well. While their profits could take a hit, business author Kevin Paul Scott says the message is about tradition and family values.

"And people will remember that,” he said. “And beyond the holidays, when they're buying Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts next May and June, they will remember these retailers – they'll spend more money there and those retailers win in the long run."

Overall, more people are opting⁸ to avoid the crowds. This year, the NRF says more than half of all holiday purchases will be made online – with one in five Americans using a tablet or smartphone. That's the highest since the NRF started asking the question in 2011.

"The most interesting part is not how much they spend, although that's important,” Paul Scott said, “but where they're spending it. And we're going to see online shopping really, I think, put a dent⁹ on a lot of traditional brick-and-mortar stores this year."

Ready to spend

Despite tepid¹⁰ sales last month, lower unemployment and rising wages could give Americans more disposable income this year, says economist¹¹ Gus Faucher.

"They're benefiting from lower gasoline prices, as well.” Faucher said. “That gives them more money to spend on things, lower home-heating costs, so that's good news. We're adding a lot of jobs, seeing stronger wage gains. I think that people are going to be in the mood to spend."

According to the NRF, the average American consumer will spend about $805 dollars on gifts this season. That's more than $630 billion between November and December, an increase of 3.7 percent from last year.

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 bucking   

v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• a bucking bronco in the rodeo 牛仔竞技表演中一匹弓背跳跃的野马
• That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin's gut. 那就是说咱们要背这一袋袋的谷子，得把五脏都累坏。 来自辞典例句

8 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

9 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

10 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。