eMarketer lead analyst and Editor-at-Large, Andria Cheng, used data from DynamicAction's Holiday Retail Index in her report on retailers' damaging and pervasive use of promotions throughout the year:

“'Retailers can't get through the clutter of email inbox and social media feeds without having the attention-grabbing promotions,' said Sarah Engel, senior vice president of global marketing at Dynamic Action. 'They keep pulling that promotional lever. Consumers begin to expect a deal. Retailers are all chasing themselves down this path. They get into the discounting-addiction spiral.'

Dynamic Action’s latest study doesn't track whether the level of discounts retailers have given this holiday season is deeper than prior years. The impact on retailers’ profit would also depend on whether promotions and discounts are planned in advance and already budgeted, or whether the trend is in desperate response to faltering demand.

'If the customer is used to waiting for a sale or buying a product at a discount, that becomes the new value of what your product is worth in the shopper’s mind,” Engel said. “Deep discounts and excessive promotions are an addiction that retailers will have to wean themselves off of in order to survive and thrive in the year ahead.'"

The full article is available here.

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