New York, NY, Dec. 29--Official sales numbers won't be known for several weeks, but consumers' retail spending grew 6.5% for the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas shopping season, according to data showing MasterCard use during the period--a healthy rise compared with tepid gains for the industry last year of 2% to 3% and another sign that the U.S. economy is recovering, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The numbers, reflecting hundreds of millions of dollars in retail activity, are compiled by MasterCard Advisors, an information services unit of MasterCard International. The data were adjusted downward by MasterCard to reflect the extra day in the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas period this year. Including activity on that extra day, holiday retail spending on MasterCard rose 10.5% this year. The figures also don't reflect purchases or exchanges made between Christmas and New Year's Day, a period stores increasingly rely on to boost holiday sales.
Holiday shoppers kept retailers guessing down to the wire. Department stores, jewelry stores and toy stores all saw declines in spending, reflecting increased competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which sparked a brutal price war on toys. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart itself said Friday it expects holiday sales through Jan. 2 to hit the low end of the 3% to 5% gains it had been forecasting, citing weakness in women's apparel and housewares.
Internet stores had strong gains. On Friday, Amazon.com said this was its busiest holiday season ever, including one day when it logged sales at a rate of 24 items per second. Sharper Image said same-store sales rose 21% from Dec. 1 to Dec. 24.
"It was a good season--lots of worry, but the spending came through," says Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research at the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Weekend snowstorms in the Northeast didn't seem to damp sales there in the end. And California saw an 11% boost, possibly due to the recovering tech sector. "I attribute it to the overall economy picking up," says Michael McNamara, director of research products for MasterCard Advisors. "Overall, the holiday season was pretty good."
