At this point in the buying season, parents have only spent $71.96 so far, so there is time for stores to get aggressive and drive more sales,

More Americans are waiting to the end to shop for Christmas than any other time in the last 10 years. The consumer was never excited about anything that they saw this Christmas.

I would say that the first quarter of next year probably has already been doomed by this episode,

[They] say that they're going to give their child a mutual fund contribution or some kind of gift through a stock investment.

Gift cards are becoming an easier gift to give. Of course, nobody ever returned cash, either.

Retailers are caught in a 'Catch-22' situation. Their costs, such as transportation costs, are going up and this is not going to change in the short term. Meanwhile, their consumers are going to be extremely deal focused.