US Retail Holiday Season Sales +3%
January 17, 16
(IDEX Online News) – Retail holiday season sales in the US increased 3 percent on an unadjusted year-on-year basis, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Sales during the November-December season $626.1 billion, but fell short of the NRF’s 3.7 percent growth forecast. The trade group highlighted unseasonably warm weather and early price discounting at retail outlets as the main factors weighing on the results.
These figures were preceded by Department of Commerce results, which showed that retail shows posted an unexpected 0.1 percent decrease in December from the prior month. On a year-over-year basis, December sales increased 2.2 percent to $448.1 billion, reported CNBC.com.
NRF reported that non-store holiday season sales saw a 9-percent increase to $105 billion.
“Make no mistake about it, this was a tough holiday season for the industry,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay.
“Weather, inventory challenges, advances in consumer technology and the deep discounts that started earlier in the season and that have carried into January presented stiff headwinds as retailers competed with one another and their own bottom line.”