Retailers are encouraging shoppers to buy holiday gifts early this year, because they say that will help avoid delays caused by supply chain backlogs and labor shortages. But is that warning more of a marketing gimmick?

Retailers have reasons to get folks buying earlier.

People who do their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving spend 23% more on average than those who shop after, said Rod Sides with Deloitte.

And, his wife is one of them – she’s heeding the call of holiday advertisements.

“She started several weeks ago to pick up the items for our kids. So she’s taking it to heart,” he said.

But is the pressure from retailers just a marketing tactic?

Columbia business professor Mark Cohen said well, yeah, it’s all marketing.

“It’s marketing based upon insecurity and the unknown,” he said.

The unknown of supply chains, labor, or consumer behavior. 

But Cohen said it is possible that stuff people are buying now – for supposedly Black Friday prices – will still be there by Black Friday, and get marked down further.

“If it happens, it’s a tremendous breach of faith. And it will cause damage,” he said, adding that consumers will notice and remember.