Backed-up supply chains and inflation are prompting retailers to price goods and services more accurately this holiday season, instead of slashing prics to lure bargain shoppers in, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Being in the rare position of being able to ask for the fair market value for their goods, retailers' profits are on the rise. Thus, while sales may be weak due to the pandemic, retailers are doing pretty well, the Journal says.

Shoppers, for their part, have become warier and more fickle. When told that they may not find the coveted "Black Friday" deals, some shoppers say they'll just pull back on holiday purchases this year. Some are already noticing higher ticket prices, not just at the gas pump and the grocery store. Others, those who are venturing out early to shop on news of supply chain disruptions and empty store shelves, say they are out early because they don't want the hassle of hunting down toys and other presents at the last minute.

One 28-year-old gig worker tells the WSJ that rather than buy things for her children this Chrismas, she plans on taking her children to Disneyland.

Out-of-Stock Messages

Online out-of-stock messages on retailers' websites are up 172% from January 2020, acording to Adobe Inc., which also reports that it expects discounts this holiday to range between 5% and 25%, down from the historical range of 10% to 30%.

Macy's Inc.'s finance chief also hold investors last month that, as one of the leading retailers in the nation. Macy's has made the conscious decision to cut back on its promotions this year. Gap Inc.'s Chief Financial Officer Katerina O'Connell, calls the ability of retailers to be more in the driver's seat when it comes to pricing holiday sales, an unexpected upside of the start-and-stop economic recovery.

"We're already quite pleased with the fact that we've been able to really pull back on discounting in all of our brands," O'Connell tells The Wall Street Journal.

Retailers already went through this drill, i.e.grappling with less inventory and higher prices, in 2020. Walking the fine line between profits and attracting sales has been a challenge even for big box chain stores like Home Depot and Gap.

Still, many retailers will continue to offer a discount -- just not as steep of a discount as in years past. Brad's Deals, an online discount marketplace, for instance, is offering discounts averaging 54% this year, compared with 71% a year ago.

Indeed, Simeon Siegel, a retail analyst with CMO Capital Markets, says that discounting this year will be all over the map: "Shoppers will have to spend up for the hot items, but will find deals on items that get left behind."