US Retail Sales Up 8%; Ecommerce Increased 20%

(IDEX Online News) – US retail sales increased a respectable 7.9 percent this year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse™, which tracked spending during the traditional Black Friday to Christmas Eve shopping season.

According to Mastercard, furniture saw double-digit growth, as did women’s apparel while electronics – often seen as competition to jewelry – and men’s apparel lagged behind.

The retail tracker estimates that ecommerce grew about 20 percent compared to last year.   

“After a slow start, I’m very happy to see that the holiday season was hot for retailers,” said Sarah Quinlan, SVP, Market Insights for MasterCard Advisors.

“We saw some very promising trends. The double-digit growth in furniture sales, for instance, shows that consumers are willing and able to splurge on big ticket items. ecommerce’s rise is a solid indication of an empowered and savvy shopper. We’ll be watching to see if this behavior continues into 2016.”