Quick-hitting sales has become this year’s shopping theme

NEW YORK — These days, shoppers don’t even have a day to pounce on a discount.

In recent weeks, major chains have been pushing online discounts that last only a few hours, and the trend is expected to get increasingly more popular as the holiday season officially kicks off.

This week, Limited Brands Inc. offered a 40 percent discount that lasted 8 hours starting at 10 p.m. on Halloween; Bebe Stores Inc.’s 20 percent discount was available for five hours on Tuesday. And Talbots Inc.’s 30 percent deal on outerwear on Oct. 20 was even shorter, beckoning shoppers to “take a three-hour lunch.”

Stores are trying to tap into the success of private sales sites such as RueLaLa.com and Gilt.com, which offer a limited window to take advantage of a deal, says Heather Dougherty, director of research at Experian Hitwise, an online research firm.

They’re also aiming to take a page from Groupon.com, which has attracted 25 million subscribers around the world since its 2008 launch. Groupon pitches mainly local offers and enough people need to act in order for the deal to take effect. But most of the deals last one day.

Merchants are offering this shorter time frame as they try to break through the clutter of discounts. They typically don’t announce the sale in advance and aim to surprise shoppers by posting the discount on their Web site or by sending an e-mail to their customers. It’s a big change from last year, when stores would bombard shoppers with rapid-fire deals that lasted for two weeks or so.

“It’s boring to have a Friends and Family sale,” said Christian Gordun, CEO of CouponCraze, a leading coupon site. He says he’s working with many of his retail members to promote discounts that last anywhere from two to 12 hours to its 750,000 users.

“All these things have become so plain. Urgency will be the most important driver for success for retailers, “ he added.