NEW YORK (AP) — After weeks of plugging increasingly inviting discounts, retailers in the United States and several other countries are preparing for prime time. The Black Friday bargain bonanza still reigns as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it’s lost some luster. In the U.S., analysts envision a solid holiday shopping season, though perhaps not as robust as last year’s, with many shoppers under financial pressure and cautious with their discretionary spending despite the easing of inflation. Retailers are even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
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