It’s still pushing 90 degrees across much of the country and fall technically won’t be arriving for another nine days but that isn’t stopping consumers from looking ahead to the costs of holiday shopping. According to a survey conducted by the analytics firm Bankrate, 59 percent of consumers are feeling anxious about being able to afford gifts this holiday season due to higher prices, which have been driven by inflation. Moreover, 27 percent of Americans reported that the expense of buying gifts would put a strain on their financial situation.
To cope with this discomfort, consumers are beginning their holiday shopping far in advance to help spread out costs and reduce stress later in the season. The same Bankrate survey shows that 20 percent of consumers will have started their shopping before the end of September while just a meager 9 percent of people plan to start shopping in December. Customers will be on the lookout for discounts and strong buying opportunities throughout the fall. As a result, retailers should approach the fall season as a slow burn instead of a mad dash between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In other news, Intel has announced that its new Raptor Lake 13th Generation processors, which are expected to hit the market sometime this Fall, will reach 6GHz peak frequency straight out of the box. If this claim is accurate, Intel would be the first company to create a mainstream desktop processor that can immediately hit speeds of 6GHz.
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