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Another Christmas inefficiency for retailers is the fact that it comes but once a year.
對于零售商來說，圣誕節低效的另一個原因是它一年只有一次。
Gary Grant of The Entertainer, which sells toys, jokes that he would love it if festive sales were spread throughout the year rather than being crammed into the final quarter.
玩具銷售商The Entertainer的加里·格蘭特開玩笑說，如果全年都能進行節日銷售，而不是只有每年最后一個季度，他會很高興。
He is understaffed, he says, during the holiday season, when he expands his workforce by 50%, and then overstaffed the rest of the year.
他說，節日假期期間，公司人手不足，于是他又雇傭了50%的員工，然后在一年剩下的時間，公司又出現了人員過剩的情況。
Shipping companies, warehouse operators and sorting centers must also organise themselves to meet peak demand; that can mean unused capacity at quieter times of the year.
航運公司、倉庫管理人員和分揀中心也必須組織起來，以滿足節日高峰期的服務需求；這可能意味著淡季會出現供給過剩。
Data from Metapack, a logistics software company, suggest that in December the volume of posted parcels is more than double the level in September.
物流軟件公司Metapack的數據顯示，12月份郵寄的包裹數量是9月份的兩倍多。
Over time, it does seem that consumers are spreading their spending a little more thinly across the year.
隨著時間的推移，消費者全年支出似乎分攤得更細了。
In 1986 25% of the year's spending on clothing was in November and December.
1986年，11月和12月服裝消費的支出占一年的25%。
In 2019 the share was 22%.
2019年，這一比例為22%。
Seasonality in retail spending, which includes restaurants, is also falling.
包括餐館在內的季節性零售支出的也在下降。
Seasonal employment as a share of the total between October and December has been decreasing since 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.
根據英國國家統計局的數據，自1997年以來，從事季節性就業的人數占總就業人數的比例自1997年以來一直在下降。
A new study by Mr. Waldfogel found that since 2000 growth in the American economy has been associated with a smaller seasonal bump in December's retail sales.
沃德弗格的一項新研究發現，自2000年以來，與美國經濟增長相關的12月份零售額的季節性增長幅度越來越小。
While some dream of white Christmases, others may yearn for mandatory exchanges of cash, or even a mechanism to randomly allocate the celebrations evenly across months of the year.
雖然一些人夢想著白色圣誕節的到來，還有一些人渴望強制交換現金作為禮物，甚至渴望形成一種機制，將慶祝活動隨機分配到一年中的某幾個月。
Much would be lost if such a system were adopted, not least the joy that can accompany the exchange of carefully (if badly) chosen presents.
如果真的采用這樣的制度，我們會失去很多東西，尤其是快樂，它可以伴隨我們交換精心挑選的禮物（雖然我們可能品味不好）的全過程。
But creating a fresh batch of unintended consequences for economists to analyse might yield some happy returns.
但由此創造一批意想不到的新推論供經濟學家分析，可能會帶來一些令人滿意的回報。
