Cleveland, Ohio — Deep discounts spurred “remarkably strong” sales of major appliances over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey of leading white goods dealers by Longbow Research.
Eighty-seven percent of retail respondents said sales met or exceeded expectations, with some indicating that volume was twice as high as expectations.
Laundry was the biggest seller by far, having benefited from some of the most aggressive sales promotions, said Longbow analyst David MacGregor.
Dealers made up for margin losses on steeply discounted goods with robust attachment rates of extended warranties, the survey showed. Virtually every respondent confirmed that sales of service contracts were up substantially, MacGregor said, although the greatest increases may have occurred at Sears, where attachment rates may have been up by close to 100 percent.
