Retailers post moderate holiday sales increases
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After another challenging holiday season, early sales figures coming out of the nation’s malls, big-box stores and supermarkets showed improvement in a range of retail categories.
Total retail sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 improved 3.6% from the same period a year earlier, according to data released by SpendingPulse, an information service of MasterCard Advisors. But the group said an additional shopping day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve this year boosted sales; adjusting for the extra day, total retail sales increased about 1%.
That figure includes traditional holiday-shopping destinations such as apparel and electronics chains as well as outlets such as grocery stores, furniture sellers and drugstores but excludes auto and gasoline sales.
Industry watchers warned that the results didn’t point to a strong industry turnaround or the return of free-spending shoppers. The sales gains over 2008 were generally moderate. And last year’s holiday figures were so dismal, analysts said, that 2009 had almost nowhere to go but up.
‘I see it as a cautious return to spending,’ said Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at SpendingPulse, which estimates sales for all forms of payment, including cash, checks and credit cards. ‘There wasn’t a huge resurgence. Even though we’re seeing some growth in terms of the holiday season, we’re still shy of the levels we saw from a couple years ago.’
The Internet was the big winner this holiday season, with online sales rising a hefty 15.5% during the Nov. 1-Dec. 24 period.
The strong performance was spurred by consumers’ increasing comfort with online shopping and an abundance of free-shipping offers and discounts, analysts said.
‘Online is picking up in popularity,’ said Brent Schoenbaum, a retail partner at Deloitte & Touche. ‘People are using it as a tool to research products as well as find competitive pricing. It’s more convenient; it’s more readily available.’
Several other categories also posted gains.
Electronics sales rose 5.9%, helped by a strong November and a spike in sales the week before Christmas Eve, SpendingPulse said. Footwear sales increased 5%, and men’s apparel was up 3.9%.
Weaker sectors included specialty apparel, whose sales declined 0.4%, and women’s apparel, down 0.3%.
Jewelry sales posted a surprising 5.6% increase, with ‘marked strength’ at both the high and low ends of the category, according to SpendingPulse. The luxury sector, excluding jewelry, finished with only a 0.8% increase.
Total dollar sales figures were not provided by SpendingPulse.
Read more about retailers’ modest holiday gift. -- Andrea Chang
