Amazon’s Pandemic Prime Day Adds to Retailers' Scary October

Most years, the end of the retail industry’s sales calendar is defined by a tidy succession of seasonal events: back-to-school, Halloween and Christmas. With the pandemic, this isn’t an ordinary year. The result? Those shopping rituals are poised to converge into a super season of sorts in October, creating a tricky balancing act that is bound to trip up some retailers.

Back-to-school shopping usually crests in August, but it got off to a slow start this year amid uncertainty around whether learning would be virtual or in-person. Accordingly, chains including Target Corp., Gap Inc., Macy’s Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. have said they expect an elongated season for buying these goods, perhaps stretching into October. That means they’ll need to continue keeping ample inventories of lunchboxes, backpacks and fall clothing even as shoppers begin to look for costumes, candy and decor ahead of Halloween. Adding to the mix, the industry is preparing for an unusually early start to Christmas shopping, on the theory that people will want to get a jump on their gift-buying — or can be persuaded to do so — to avoid being shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow shoppers in December. So chains such as Target and Kohl’s Corp. have decided to begin their holiday deals in, you guessed it, October.