Attention holiday shoppers: the deals have only just begun

By Jessica Dickler @CNNMoney                                                     
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- On the heels of a record Black Friday followed by a Cyber Monday that went down as the highest-grossing online shopping day in U.S. history, there's one thing retailers know for sure -- shoppers love a good deal. 

To encourage shoppers to keep spending between now and the end of the year, expect retailers to keep slashing prices, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "This is not the season to be standing on principal," said Joel Bines, managing director in the global retail practice at AlixPartners. "All retailers need to have their foot on the gas in terms of promotions." Even though Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday notched new records, those key shopping days were not enough to lift retailers out of the doldrums, they said.

Persistently high unemployment and uncertainty about the economy continue to weigh on shoppers, especially in the lower income brackets.

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