How last-minute shoppers were driven by banner displays

The anticipated holiday shopping season may be over, but retailers pulled as many last-minute strings they could to make the most out of each sale. With one fewer shopping week to work with, small and major businesses utilized vinyl banners to promote time-sensitive sales and promotions. 

A slower start date to the holiday shopping season was due to the fact that Thanksgiving fell on the last week of November this year, when it typically occurs on the third Thursday of the month. On top of the fact that Hanukkah began earlier than usual — starting on Thanksgiving as well, retailers had lesser opportunities to increase daily revenue volumes.

On Super Saturday, as the Saturday before Christmas is called, windows in shopping plazas, malls and downtown districts decorated their stores with advertisements featuring lower prices, hoping that the millions of procrastinating shoppers would take the bait, CNBC explained.

"This is really the make-or-break weekend, because it has been a very soft retail Christmas season," Chairman of America's Research Group Britt Beemer told the news source just before Christmas. "I think you're going to see 50 percent off more aggressively promoted this weekend." 

However, 50 percent off did not make the cut for some shops. CNBC found that prices were slashed 60 or 70 percent off retail value by many stores, which could be a sign of excess inventory.

"They're going to gamble," Beemer added. "They're going to try to keep margins intact as best they can."

What makes vinyl banners a valuable marketing tool is that they can be used in a variety of settings. Restaurants, governments and nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to gain foot traffic with the use of these vibrant displays.