Timely Topic: Professors Offer Holiday Tips for Smart Shopping, Online Safety, Tech Toys

11.17.2021

Shop Early and Smart This Holiday Season

After a 2020 holiday season that was anything but normal, holiday sales this year are expected to grow at least 7% compared to last year, according to forecasts from Bain & Company, Deloitte and Mastercard SpendingPulse.

Plenty of issues still loom as the pandemic lingers, however, said Dr. Daniel Rajaratnam, a clinical professor of marketing in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas.

“From a broken supply chain to labor shortages, retailers still have challenges ahead this holiday season,” Rajaratnam said. “Many companies are working to beef up their staff. Walmart announced in September it was hiring 20,000 supply chain employees to keep up with demand, and Dick’s Sporting Goods hired the largest number of seasonal associates in the company’s history.”

According to the 2021 holiday shopping and travel outlook from International Business Machines Corp., 44% of consumers planned to start holiday shopping before Black Friday.

Retailers have started Black Friday sales even earlier this year, Rajaratnam said, and brick and mortar stores like Costco Wholesale might offer better deals than online retailers. Big discounts will be harder to find because of inventory constraints.

Here are some tips Rajaratnam recommends:

• Online shoppers should expect longer shipping times than previous holiday seasons. Shop well in advance to ensure gifts are in stock and delivered on time.
• When shopping online, look for retailers that offer free shipping, since those costs can quickly add up. The longer you wait to buy, the more expensive products and shipping will be.
• Those who are returning to shopping in stores this season should expect to see limited inventory, unattended cash registers and long checkout lines.

Retail experts are warning there will be some impossible-to-find items this year, Rajaratnam said.

“Start shopping now, if you haven’t already,” he said. “If there is a must-have item on your list, don’t wait to see if it will go on sale. When you can, be flexible with your shopping list. Have backup options in mind in case the item is out-of-stock or the shipping times won’t work with your holiday plans.”

–Brittany Magelssen

 
Note to journalists: Dr. Daniel Rajaratnam is available for news media interviews. Contact Brittany Magelssen, 972-883-4357, brittany.hoover@utdallas.edu.

A Cybersecurity Expert’s Tips for Safe Online Shopping

Online shopping has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some analysts predict a record-breaking holiday season for e-commerce.

As consumers do more of their shopping online, UT Dallas cybersecurity expert Dr. Murat Kantarcioglu advises them to be cautious.

Kantarcioglu, Ashbel Smith Professor of computer science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, offered the following security tips:

• Do not use public Wi-Fi for shopping. Public networks are not secure, potentially allowing cybercriminals to access your personal information.
• Never save your information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, online.
• Provide as little personal information as possible. Sharing your phone number, for example, can lead to text spam.

–Kim Horner

 
Note to journalists: Dr. Murat Kantarcioglu is available for news media interviews. Contact Kim Horner, 972-883-4463, kim.horner@utdallas.edu.

Smart Gifts for Kids

With so many tech toys on the market, it can be difficult to decide what to buy for children.

Dr. Jey Veerasamy, director of the Center for Computer Science Education and Outreach and associate professor of instruction, organizes coding camps for kids as young as age 5 at UT Dallas.

“It’s a classic problem of buying inexpensive products that will be used for a short time versus expensive ones with a lot of features that you hope will be used a long time. With the rapid evolution of learning tools – the majority of which are free – there is no need to invest in expensive toys,” Veerasamy said.

One of Veerasamy’s top recommendations is the BBC micro:bit, a small, inexpensive programmable device with red LED lights that flash messages. It can be used for a wide range of activities, from creating animated patterns and musical compositions to science and engineering projects.

For shoppers looking for a higher-end option for a child who is interested in robotics, Veerasamy recommends the Scribbler 3 Robot.

–Kim Horner

 
Note to journalists: Dr. Jey Veerasamy is available for news media interviews. Contact Kim Horner, 972-883-4463, kim.horner@utdallas.edu.