Editors Take: 2010 Recovery Requires New Thinking

Regardless of how robust or soft this holiday season turns out, I do believe that next year, once the unemployment rate tops out and people get back to work, consumers will start buying again. They might even break up their buyer boards. But will this signify a return to normal? Hardly.

Consumers will continue to seek the lowest prices online. They’ll still demand value. And they’ll keep reading product reviews while communicating with one another through social media, texting and other online ways, some of which probably haven’t been invented yet.