You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Memorial Day Sales Look More Normal, In Most Ways Last Memorial Day, most Americans were shopping for hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

By Euni Han

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Rosley Majid | EyeEm | Getty Images

Memorial Day sales traditionally include household items like washers and dryers, kitchen appliances and mattresses. That's already started in the weekend leading up to the holiday weekend, according to the Associated Press.

But Barbara Stewart, president and coordinator of retailing and consumer science at the University of Houston, is expecting two major shifts from buyers.

"We'll be shopping for apparel because we'll be seeing more people this summer than we did last summer," she explained.

Stewart also thinks people are itching to get out.

"I think consumers are also ready to do some traveling because we've been at home for more than a year," she said.

This means that as consumers, we should see markdowns on road trip gear, vehicle-related maintenance, camping equipment, hotel rooms and domestic flights. Priya Raghubir, professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, says savvy retailers will time their sales to match trending categories online.

"What really gets people over that last threshold from interest in a category to, "Here's my credit card. Charge it,' is a financial incentive like a price promotion."

But the real trick for shoppers to save money during Memorial Day sales is to set limits. NerdWallet suggests getting organized and making a list of items you need to buy so that you don't get distracted by what retailers want you to buy. And if your items don't go on sale, NerdWallet says don't buy to fill the "shopping void."

Raghubir says Memorial Day sales will definitely be online and in-stores but adds that malls probably won't see the same pre-pandemic traffic.

"There is still hesitancy about being indoors," she explained.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Leadership

What We Have to Gain By Talking About Grief and Loss At Work

I lost my husband to cancer during Covid — here's how it changed how I lead at work.

Money & Finance

5 Simple Wealth-Building Tips For This Generation's Forward-Thinkers

Explore practical finance tips for young professionals striving to overcome economic challenges.

Fundraising

Avoid These 9 Pitch Deck Mistakes When Asking Others For Money

Crafting an efficient pitch deck requires serious effort, but at least it's not wandering in the dark since certain rules are shaped by decades of relationships between startups and investors.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Says This CEO Is the 'Taylor Swift' of Tech

Meta's CEO posed with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Instagram Wednesday.

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Real Estate

3 Emerging Trends Shaping the Future of Real Estate

These three innovations are reshaping the real estate industry — discover tips for effectively covering these trends.