Top 3 Retail Predictions for the 2024 Holiday Season

So to kick off the episode we gotta start with a very important question guys, and that is, what is the worst holiday small talk you've had to endure or you've heard others having to endure over the Thanksgiving dinner?

Chris Versace: You mean other than politics, Lindsey?

Lindsey Bell: Yes, that's the obvious one. What's worse than politics?

Chris Versace: I would say people complaining about the sides that you have spent hours making, particularly these people who like, for some reason, marshmallows on their sweet potato. I have no time for that.

Lindsey Bell: No time. Do you make marshmallow sweet potatoes, Bob?

Bob Lang: No, I don't. I don't mind it. it's pretty tasty.

Chris Versace: Bob, what would your AI program say about marshmallows and sweet potatoes?

Bob Lang: Well, I'd probably say that my [00:01:00] calories would be going through the roof.

Chris Versace: Yeah, it would be, I'll tell you what it would be. It would be like on Lost in Space. Lindsey, this was an old show, you may not know it, but it had a robot, and the robot, when he saw something, would go, Danger! Danger! Warning! That's what your AI would say about marshmallows and sweet potatoes.

Bob Lang: Well, I'll tell you for me, Lindsey, it's the small talk about what's gonna be the hot gift for the holiday season. Obviously, there's usually some kind of toy or some sort of gadget. Maybe it's a an Apple item or something like that.

But I hate talking about all that stuff at the table. It just ruins the whole meal for me. But

Lindsey Bell: Why does that ruin the meal for you? That's like, let's get excited about the next holiday, which is,

Chris Versace: Yeah.

Bob Lang: I like to enjoy the holiday that we're in at the at the time, at the moment, it's talking about.

things that we're thankful for and their family and so forth.

Chris Versace: Lindsey, let me help translate. Bob is busy sitting there enjoying [00:02:00] his mouth full of turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. He can't be bothered with what anyone else is saying, let alone distracting him from the mouthgasm that he's having on Thanksgiving.

Bob Lang: You know, as long as I've been able to use my AI tool to figure out how many calories I have, I'm good.

Lindsey Bell: He just wants to eat in peace, Chris. I think he wants to eat in peace. Nobody wants to I think,

Chris Versace: Yeah, you might be right. You might be right.

Lindsey Bell: I think, Chris, it doesn't matter the topic is what he's telling us.

Just don't talk to him at Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah don't poke him. I will just say that I agree. I think politics is number one worst thing you can talk about. But I think second of all, like, I'm just going to go back to my single years, especially in my thirties. Cause I didn't get married till I was 37.

Like you feel bad for the single folks, right? Like who are you dating? Who you get, when are you getting married? What are you doing with your life? That is like the worst because you just like dread it filled with anxiety going into dinner. But then I also read recently on a blog, I don't know if this is [00:03:00] true or not, but allegedly there's a one of the hot topics this holiday season is what's your mortgage rate.

Chris Versace: That's a little TMI, Lindsey. I don't know about that.

Lindsey Bell: I don't know. It's better than what do you do for a living, isn't it?

Chris Versace: Well, you know what? I'll tell you a little secret. There's a lot of folks that we have over, like, I don't say anything about what I do, because the last thing I want to be asked about is stocks at any particular moment.

Bob Lang: Yeah, and I was going to say that some years ago, the topic du jour, either at Thanksgiving or even at holiday parties was, how is your 401k doing this year? I don't really want to discuss that sort of stuff. I'm with Chris, I don't want to talk about my job or what I'm doing regularly during the day, at least during

Chris Versace: Bob.

Can you imagine Lindsey right in the middle of Bob getting a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes. Bob, what's your trade idea for the end of the year?

Bob Lang: I'd say it's potatoes. It's that's what it is or turkey or whatever. So I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna disclose it. So you'll have to listen to our podcast next week and find out what I like.

Lindsey Bell: Yeah, [00:04:00] we'll find out where you're long or short. All right. Well, that was a good discussion. Now we're ready for the holiday feast. Before we dive into our big conversation of the day, we're going to talk about how retailer earnings have been so far and then we're going to get into three predictions One from each of us for the holiday shopping season.

So tune right in right after a short break here.

Welcome back to our Thanksgiving holiday special for the What Does It Mean podcast. We're back and we're digging into retailer earnings because we're right on the tail end of it here and we've had a variety of retailers reporting some good, some bad, maybe some ugly too, right? Let's dig into it. What are the key takeaways that we've seen from these reporters so far?

Chris, I know you're a retail guy, so I want to hear what you think.

Chris Versace: You know, it's really been kind of a mixed bag. Walmart came out stronger than I think people were looking for, then Target almost [00:05:00] immediately stumbled and their guidance for the holiday season filled quarter disappointing, comp sales disappointing, but then you turn around and you get Dick's that delivers good numbers are arguably better than feared, given what we heard from Target and Walmart but then Kohl's takes it on the chin, right?

So it, it's really a, very dynamic environment for retailers. And I what I think is at work here is, folks, like we suspected, they are looking to stretch their disposable spending dollars. They are looking for deals and I read this stat this morning, getting ready for this conversation that Black Friday shopping dollars are expected to rise 40 percent year over year as people are trying again to buy as much as they can with as few dollars as they can. And with that, we've seen even at Amazon, and yes, I'm guilty of [00:06:00] using this this morning, Black Friday deals have already started. And you're getting items that you might have bought, a week ago, two weeks ago,

this is Amazon, 30%, 25 percent lower. The wind up here is I think folks are looking for sales, they're looking for discounts, they're looking for promotional activity, and they are going to go where they can get the best deals.

Lindsey Bell: What say you, Bob? Is it all about the deals? Is it all about the promotions?

Bob Lang: I think it's more about the execution by the retailers and by execution, I mean having the right merchandise and being able to deliver it on time. I think with a shortened holiday period here, because we have one last week of shopping, I know that most people have migrated over to Cyber shopping and shopping online.

So maybe that's not a, an issue, but I think that there are still some execution problems that some of these companies have in delivering the [00:07:00] merchandise to the shoppers, to the buyers. And I think that's going to be something I need to really pay attention to. I think the expert in that category, has got to be Amazon.

And what Chris just mentioned, I think there's nobody who does it better than shipping product over to their customers than Amazon. Walmart is also probably a close second to Amazon. So I think that's an area that I'm going to be paying close attention to because if you're not getting your gifts and your stuff on time, well, January is going to be a painful month for a lot of these retailers when a lot of these customers and people who got delivered supposed to get delivered stuff are returning items.

Chris Versace: Yeah, just two thoughts on that, Bob. I agree with you, generally speaking, about cyber. So when we looked at Walmart's earnings, digital shopping, cyber shopping, call it what you will, e commerce even, up very strong. If you remember Costco's numbers when they report their monthly sales, also up very strong.

Target, even though their comp sales overall were down, digital shopping commerce sales were [00:08:00] good. I just think that for folks that are looking to price comparison, I could either drive from store to store, or I could sit there on my PC, iPhone, tablet, whatever, and comparison shop and buy what I want, almost immediately.

But the other point I was going to make, and this really follows up on your execution, it'll be interesting to see if companies waive shipping fees in order to win the sale, because in the past, there have been times where shipping fees were, de minimis or non existent. That has changed. So that could be another weapon that the cyber shoppers are looking for to really vote their dollars.

Lindsey Bell: That sounds like a little bit of a prediction, Chris.

Chris Versace: No, I've got a better prediction. Lindsey, don't worry. I've got a better prediction.

Lindsey Bell: Not to frontrun it, but I think to summarize what both of you are saying, and it's what I believe is really what I've taken from the earnings as well, is that it's a little bit of both of what you're saying.

So I think that yes, the consumer has and remains very price sensitive and [00:09:00] selective as they're shopping this holiday season. But I also think what it says is there are winners and losers this holiday season from a retailer perspective. So if you're an investor, when you're looking at these companies as potential stocks to own, there are definitely winners and losers.

And I think what it says is more about the companies than about the consumer. One thing that I noted early on was that the like Walmart, especially, discerning was the label that a lot of these retailers gave the consumer in the third quarter. That seems to be have been removed. So the consumer is doing okay.

I think overall earnings are pretty good. Like they're not like, blockbuster, crazy beats or anything like that, but they're doing really well, I think. And I think one of the biggest takeaways really is that this earning season, I think is giving investors permission to own some of these retailers again, because people have been so afraid of the retailers because they're uncertain about the health of the consumer and [00:10:00] where it is going And I feel like this is showing that the consumer is still spending. That being said I do think there's a big difference between the high end and the low end consumer, too. But I think that these are potential investable opportunities now but at the end of the day it comes down to the value getting for the product that you're buying, having the right merchandise, and if you don't have the right merchandise, having the right service. And then also that online or mobile presence is very important.

So those are my big takeaways. Chris, what do you think?

Chris Versace: Well, let me ask you this, Lindsey, because as we look across, the retailers that are reporting, we know that consumers have been shopping elsewhere, right? Not necessarily on physical goods, but experiences, travel. So I'm, are you seeing in the work that you're doing and what you're coming across, are we starting to see a shift that people are maybe slowing their spending on travel? Maybe we're not eating out as much. And now we're back to typical [00:11:00] retail things, clothing, electronics, those sorts of things that you tend to think about for the holiday season.

Lindsey Bell: I think it's yes and no. And I think it depends on the retailer. I do, by the way, Bespoke did a really good research report on retail sales for the month of October. And what you have seen is obviously bars and restaurants still very strong. To your point, Chris, people are spending on services, they're spending on experiences, they're spending on travel and things like that, but also eating out and going to bars and restaurants.

And so that has been strong for quite a while. But as a percent of total retail sales, it's the third biggest component now. Yeah. And so that has increased significantly over the last couple years. So I do, I agree with you. I think this holiday season, the consumer is easing back into buying discretionary items.

What you did see in the October report is a broadening of the type of products that they're buying, not just services. And so that's a positive. The question is it gonna be sustainable? Because I do think there has been a [00:12:00] major mentality shift in what people spend money on and how they spend their money.

So I think that if we do see more discretionary spending this holiday season, is it sustainable? Like Walmart said, they believe it's going to be sustainable. They believe that the consumers that they're winning over, they're going to keep. I'm not entirely sold on that. I think they'll keep them for a while until perhaps the economy and wages and things like that improve more, much more significantly.

But anyway. That's did that answer your question, Chris.

Chris Versace: It did. No, it did. It did. But it also is as you tend to do, Lindsey, as you're giving me something to chew on. And I my wheels start spinning. So I'm thinking along the lines of time, right? So when we started to have the post COVID reopening and people were going out, right?

People were buying clothes again. And now we're, three years or so since then. And I'm wondering if it's time to freshen the wardrobe, [00:13:00] right? So maybe that's a reason why folks are starting to pick up apparel sales. There's also more talk about return to office, you know, really starting in 2025.

So you've got folks that might be going in three days a week, four days a week, five days a week. I am fortunate enough that I don't have to do that. So, whether or not I've got sweatpants on or not, nobody knows. But if you're going into the office, you're not going to be able to do that.

So I do think about that. And then, at the same time, during the pandemic, we know that there was a lot of pull forward for work from home type equipment, PCs, and all that. And again, that's now three, four years. And we've got the advent of AI PCs, we've got the push for those windows folks to Windows 11.

So I start to think is it possible that the categories, as you were talking about, are indeed shifting back to more traditional, quote, retail items, not necessarily eating out or experiences, i. e. travel.

Lindsey Bell: You [00:14:00] did see electronics and appliances. They were the top performer in retail sales for the month of October.

Chris Versace: And Best Buy called them out today.

Lindsey Bell: They did, although Best Buy No,

Chris Versace: No, I understand. But, so like, you have to, this is like a bigger thing on retailers, right? As their businesses change, because they're trying to meet, the changing demands and preferences of consumers. It used to be, You would go to Best Buy, get CDs, DVDs.

I don't think you can get either one of them there. And now they're big ticket items of, major appliances, washers, dryers, refrigerators. They have a whole showroom that would make Ikea kind of jealous from time to time. so it's just evolving, and I'm not really sure where they go, but I even think at one point Best Buy was leaning into our aging of the population theme, talking about services and home services that would cater to aged adults. And I'm not really sure where they are on that anymore, but that's,

Lindsey Bell: That's a really good example of what I was talking about.

Like if you don't have [00:15:00] the product that is top of mind for the consumer right now. You have to figure out how to create the experience or the service that the consumer will pay for and I think William Sonoma has been like a really good example of this and also Dick's Sporting Goods. Let me do the Dick's Sporting Goods example in that sporting goods in the month of October, for example, and for the last year, have been weak. People just haven't been shopping for those types of items.

Well, they had a great back to school season. They did outstanding versus the rest of the country, right? And the reason for that is the experience that they're offering for their consumer, and what they have is what is it called? It's a so I wrote a note on it to myself. They have a house of sport concept where they have got amenities like climbing walls and batting cages and things like that.

So they're creating this experience. And I think Best Buy just needs to like figure out how to create what's the right experience for their consumer or the right service because they, they have a great potential in service, but that's just me. [00:16:00] That's my thought.

Bob Lang: I was also going to mention about Dick's Sporting Goods.

One of the things that, one of the reasons why they've done so well lately and executed so well is because of the competition. There's been at least four or five of their competitors that have gone bankruptcy and liquidated their inventory. And maybe it got bought by somebody like a Ross stores or possibly a TJ Maxx or even Amazon or somebody else.

But the competition is going away. So there's not a whole lot. There's some big fives out there, but, and then, and obviously there's some sporting goods over at Walmart, but for the most part, Dick's sporting goods is benefiting from the attrition from other companies that are just going away.

William Sonoma kind of unique in its own right. And they do have some really great products and high end stuff that I mean, when I'm in those stores, those are those stores are packed. So, I tend to agree with you.

I think you know, Lindsey, your first preface is picking and choosing the winners here is really the the way to go.

Chris Versace: So were you guys at all surprised on [00:17:00] Williams Sonoma that they talked about their non consumer business, where they were actually leveraging the relationships with I think it was either Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton and other corporate customers where they would actually outfit offices and hotels with various furnishings?

I have to be honest, I had never heard that, but I think that's a genius move.

Lindsey Bell: Same. I agree with you a hundred percent. I was like, what's this? And, but yeah, smart.

Chris Versace: All right. So now the wrap up. We are moving into the real thick of the holiday shopping season. As Bob noted, it's compressed this year because we have one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we agree that the consumer is going to be selective, choosy, embracing deals, promotional activity, and the like.

We are going to closely watch the dollars spent between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, because they look to be in a Donald Trump way, huge. But we also have to recognize that so far, it's very much a mixed bag. [00:18:00] And if you're going to look to invest in a retailer, choose wisely.

Lindsey Bell: All right. Great summary there, Chris.

Let's dive into our predictions. Each one of us is going to give one prediction about what the holiday shopping period is going to provide, and we'll see if they come true. We'll have to do an episode where we review post holiday if any of our predictions came true. Bob, let's start with you. What's your prediction?

Bob Lang: Well, I'm watching Chris to see if he falls out of his chair here when I make this prediction. And I think my first prediction is going to be that I think AI is going to have a huge influence for the first time ever in retail and not just for the customer, but for the retailer as well, too. I think they're going to try and figure out how to use AI in a way that helps them execute better, maximize their sales and bring out the right product that the customers want for this holiday shopping season. I really don't know what this [00:19:00] looks like, Lindsey, but I do think that AI is going to have for the first time have an influence in this holiday shopping season.

That's my prediction.

Lindsey Bell: All right. So I have a question on that. Do you think that they're going to use a I to adjust pricing like real time pricing?

Bob Lang: Yes. I feel like that's

Lindsey Bell: something that will really upset the consumer.

Bob Lang: I, I, yes, I do. I think they will. And I think that this is the sort of thing that if you're experienced the pain of trying to, Get a flight online for one of the airlines, one of the things I've suffered with is I've gone to like American Airlines to book something and I'm on the website and I've actually got a flight right on the page. And then I walk away and it times me out and I go back in there and all of a sudden that same flight half an hour later is a hundred dollars more. Right. They figured out how to if I'm on a website, if somebody's looking for something, they can go ahead and adjust the prices right then and there.

So I think that sort of thing is going to be, it's going to be prevalent because look it's all about [00:20:00] maximizing their revenue and maximizing their margins. And if they can do it spot on like that and use AI, look, a lot of these companies, Lindsey, are making a huge investment in AI and they have to recoup some of that investment somehow.

So if that's just the way they're going to do it, I think that's going to, that's going to be very helpful for them during the holiday season.

Lindsey Bell: Chris is Bob on to something.

Chris Versace: Well, I'll just say this. I'm still in my chair. I didn't fall out of it. I, look, I, do I think that he's probably right? That companies are going to look to use AI to maximize what they can?

Yeah. I don't think we'll know, I don't have any real sense that they've been successful until January, February when they report, maybe not even then, but I think it's something that we'll see increasingly on a go forward basis. But in terms of my prediction, I would say that there is going to be margin pain.

What I mean by that is, if [00:21:00] the conversation that we had a few moments ago rings true, and I think it will, that consumers are going to be overly selective. There will be winners. There will be losers. It means that the losers are going to have to really become aggressive in their markdowns to win customers and not get stuck with excess inventories coming out of the holiday shopping season.

If they do, all that means is even more aggressive discounting to move that product January, February. So I do think that while there'll be some bright spots out there, I think Amazon, I think Costco will continue to do very well. Amazon, just because we discussed earlier about its presence in digital shopping, but Costco, we have to remember, and I think we talked about this on last week's podcast, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and various other year end holidays are designed around F O O D.

And Costco excels at that, so does Walmart, so I think that they will continue to do well. But by [00:22:00] and large, I think a lot of these brick and mortar centric retailers, more apparel or just physical goods, I think they're going to have a tough time. And I think there's going to be some bloodletting January February.

Lindsey Bell: So I kind of agree. I kind of disagree. I agree on what you just said is that it's going to depend on the mix of the merchandise. If you're fully apparel, like Kohl's we heard from just recently. We haven't heard from Macy's yet. I think that they're going to struggle. I think they're going to have to discount to move those things.

It's just not simply something that consumer is really like high on this holiday season. So I do think that there's going to be pain there. And then if you're like a Target, right, you've already have more inventory than you probably should because they made an operational mistake with pulling merchandise in earlier because they were nervous about the whole port closure situation.

And so I think it's that

Chris Versace: big, that big three day event, you mean?

Lindsey Bell: Yeah. And so I [00:23:00] think if you're a smart consumer, those are the places you want to shop. Right. But I do think other places that has a different mix, like a Walmart too, I think it's becoming a much more viable competitor to an Amazon given their various options for delivery.

And and they did, they're just really revamping their e commerce and they're starting to . Operate in full stride there. So, so I agree. I think I agree with you for the most part.

Chris Versace: Sounds like it.

Lindsey Bell: Bob, what do you think about the promotional environment?

Bob Lang: I think those promotions are going to be coming in late and I think it's a game of chicken between the shopper, the holiday shopper and the retailer.

And just to see who gets to the finish line first. I think there's gonna be a lot of bargains, a lot of discounting going on a couple of days before. Let's remember that Christmas falls midweek on a Wednesday. So I think that weekend before I think you're gonna get a huge crush of people trying to get through the door and trying to buy things for late gift ideas and so forth. But I think that I tend [00:24:00] to agree. I think that the the margins are going to be are going to be hit hard because of the discounting that's going to go on towards the end there, but let's not forget, January is always a, it's turned into a really big time for retailers as well, too, because a lot of ideas are not thought of right away.

So what do people do? They give out gift cards. And I think gift card whole gift card scenario in January, February is when a lot of these retailers tend to get a lot of the business back that they missed out in in December.

Lindsey Bell: Chris, you want to jump in?

Chris Versace: Yeah I, there is something to the gift cards, I think.

I'm not to me it's a lazy gift, but that's neither here nor there. The other thing that I was thinking about when we're just getting back to our digital shopping is, the use of social media, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, what have you. And I think, Lindsey, we talked about this on a podcast a while back.

That I think there's, those platforms have given rise to a lot of products and brands that you almost never would have seen before. And I think, Lindsey, you in the past, you said you bought something, I think, for your kids through Instagram, isn't that [00:25:00] right?

Lindsey Bell: Yes, I bought a couple things. I bought like a sweatshirt, but I bought some stuff for my kids.

Chris Versace: Yeah, so I do wonder, just a sleeper prediction, if perhaps those do better than expected.

Lindsey Bell: Yeah, I think influencers are going to, maybe this is like an extra prediction that we're making on the fly here, is that influencers are going to play a greater weight in how the holiday season shop shapes up.

And also I think from a pricing and margin perspective too, because people are probably going to be willing to pay greater or more full prices for things that their influencer friends, quote unquote, friends recommending to them, right?

Chris Versace: The Kim Kardashian, Lindsey, Kim Kardashian understands me like no one else.

Lindsey Bell: We're tight, man. I slide into her DMs every once in a while.

No, but actually, you know what? I will say like that slides into my prediction, which would be our [00:26:00] third prediction here, which is that I think we're going to look back on this year, this holiday season. And I think we're going to say, hey, this was a tipping point. It was a tipping point where online becomes the majority of where people shop.

And I think, for the holidays, at least for the holidays. Right. And I think a large part of that is because people are shopping online. Increasingly with their mobile devices. And we did see at the beginning of the holiday season, Adobe analytics alluded to this, but I don't think it was picked up significantly.

That this is going, they said that 2024 holiday season is going to be the most mobile of all time with 53. 2 percent share of sales versus the desktop. And so online sales are going to grow greater than 8%. Mobile sales going to grow almost 13 percent by their numbers. And I think it's going to finally click because Chris, you know, I've been covering retail for a really long time, near and dear at our hearts and there's always been is brick and mortar is never going to die.

People just like that [00:27:00] experience. But and that might be true. And I think that will that it will won't ever completely die. But I think it serves a purpose. But I also just think that this online is becoming a much bigger piece of the pie.

Chris Versace: I think part of that is one, the younger folks are used to that, we moved from showrooming to buying. But the other side of it is the adoption of, if you're on your smartphone, your mobile wallet, and the ease of paying now and the integration of, whether it's Apple Pay, Google Pay Amazon Pay, or some of these other like third party services like Shop, right, where they have all your information and you just click the button.

It auto populates. It's secure. Next thing you know, you got a receipt in your email and you have no idea how much you paid. You bought something. So I think that adoption is there. And then I think that also carries over to tablets if you're doing that, but also increasingly to [00:28:00] desktop. So I think there's a variety of factors that I think are a positive as we, as I would say, tailwind for that digital shopping.

Lindsey Bell: I agree. Bob, what do you think? Are you shopping online or are you going to the store?

Bob Lang: No I'll be doing most of my shopping online, but listen, the more people who are shopping online, the better chance of getting a nice parking spot at the mall, right?

If you, if that's what you're, a lot of times I get real frustrated when I go to the mall and I can't find a spot for 10 minutes, I'm driving around looking for something. I have to find a spot.

That's a like half a mile away. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Versace: Bob that's a way of getting your steps in.

Bob Lang: Well, that's what's walking around the mall is all about, right? Chris, I got my, if I have my watch on, I'm getting my steps in. I can shop and find some bags. And, if I've got some heavy bags, I'm doing some heavy lifting as well, too.

Lindsey Bell: Do you, what's, do you see what Bob is doing here? He's trying to send everybody else to the store, get their nice parking spot while he shops online. I don't know what's going on. Well, he's

Chris Versace: He remember what he [00:29:00] said earlier?

No. This all ties together because Bob said earlier that he's concerned. Effectively be about logistics for the holiday shopping season. So he doesn't want people ordering online. So he can make sure that he gets his packages on time. Very smart. Very smart.

Bob Lang: Genius. Thank you, Chris.

Lindsey Bell: All right.

So we've got our three predictions. AI. AI. AI online shopping and highly promotional. We're going to take a break. We're going to come right back and we're going to summarize whose prediction is going to win. All right. Welcome back. We're going to close out the show here with a quick summary. Bob, whose prediction do you think is most likely to occur?

AI, online shopping or promotions.

Bob Lang: I think promotions. I think Chris is going to be is onto something over here with the discounting and I think that this is going to hurt retailers earnings and margins. I think would be we'll hear about it in January, February, especially in February.

But I think he's right there.

Lindsey Bell: All [00:30:00] right, Chris, who's got the best prediction?

Chris Versace: Well, I don't want to pat myself on the back, but I'm going to say I did. In other words, shoppers, if you can withstand it, and you got some extra cash, you'll be doing some big shopping come December 26th and early January, so just hang on!

Lindsey Bell: All right. Well, I'm gonna go with my predictions. I think it's going to be some promotions, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as we think for others. So, so I'm going with online. All right. That was a good one. A lot to talk about retailers as we head into the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

That's going to be a wrap for the week. Check out the show notes and resources for more information. You can find Bob at explosiveoptions.net. You can find Chris over at The Street Pro Portfolio, and you can find me on linkedin. Thanks for listening and we'll be back with you next week