Xmas shopping

I couldn't help noticing that the shops claimed they would "lose" millions of pounds worth of sales revenue because the heavy snow stopped people going pre-Christmas shopping.

Now, I would have thought that no revenue would be lost, because, if people wanted to buy something, they'd go and buy it later once the snow had cleared.

Are the retailers' remarks tantamount to an admission that at Christmas people go out and buy millions of pounds worth of crap that they don't need and, given a brief pause for reflection, would decide not to buy after all?