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Retailers Vie For Last-Minute Sales As Super Saturday Beckons

With the holiday selling season rapidly wrapping up, CE dealers are doing their utmost to capture those last-minute sales.

And apparently there are procrastinators aplenty. Infoscout, which studies consumer purchasing patterns, examined data from over 1 million shopping trips both in-store and online over the past two holiday seasons. Their conclusion: This Saturday — otherwise known as Super Saturday since it falls on the last weekend before Christmas — will pass Black Friday as the busiest shopping day of the year in at least five major markets, including Chicago; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Los Angeles; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm Beach; and Washington.

“Black Friday has become an increasingly artificial phenomenon, driven more by retailer promotion than by its date on the calendar,” said Jared Schrieber, InfoScout’s co-founder and CEO. “Super Saturday, by contrast, offers a more natural reason for people to shop in droves — it’s the last weekend for procrastinators to wrap up their Christmas shopping.”

Related:Tech And Appliance Sales Surge Over Black Friday, Thanksgiving

That fact is hardly lost on tech dealers, who are busy mounting their final efforts to grab the pre-Chrismukkah crowds. As hhgregg marketing senior VP Chris Sutton concurred, “The deals might start on Black Friday, but that’s really just the beginning. hhgregg provides a one-stop-shop for the hottest holiday gift items all the way through December to ensure everyone has the time to shop for their loved ones and still get the best deals around.”

The chain’s last-minute promotions include:

*a Samsung 58-inch 1080p HDTV (model UN58J5190) for $500, a savings of $400;

*a Haier 65-inch 4K UHD TV (model 65UF2505) for $550, a savings of $450;

*an HP laptop with i5 processor, 6GB RAM and 1TB storage (model 15AY067NR) for $400; a savings of $120;

*Sony’s PlayStation4 500GB system (model 3001504) bundled with “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” for $250, a savings of $50;

*a Whirlpool 4.8-cubic-foot washer (model WTW7000DW) or companion dryer (model WED7000DW) for $500 each, a saving of $400 for the pair; and

*a 25.4-cubic-foot LG stainless steel French door refrigerator for $1,000, a savings of $700.

Best Buy is also getting in on the act, by offering free two-day shipping on nearly all online inventory through next Wednesday, Dec. 21, and by adding a host of “Black Friday-like deals,” including:

*$200 off a Samsung 58-inch HDTV, for $450;

*$40 off a 39-inch Insignia HDTV with Roku, for $200;

*$250 off a Surface Pro 4 Core i5 128GB tablet; and

*starting today, $70 off Microsoft’s Xbox One S 500GB “Minecraft” console bundle.

Amazon is no slouch either when it comes to last-minute holiday cheer. The No. 1 e-tailer has assembled more than 500 handcrafted artisanal items including electronics accessories that it describes as “last-minute gifts that look anything but.” They’re offered here in a curated last-minute gift guide.

See also:L.A. Sues National Chains Over Fake Sales Ads

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