Photo credit: www.investing.com
U.S. Retail Sales Surge During Holiday Season
(Reuters) – U.S. retail sales experienced a substantial increase of 3.8% from November 1 to December 24, driven by aggressive promotional strategies aimed at capturing consumer attention in a fiercely competitive holiday market. This spike in sales reflects a trend of last-minute shopping as consumers searched for deals.
This growth significantly outpaced the 3.1% rise observed in the same period the previous year, surpassing Mastercard’s earlier projection of a 3.2% increase. Notably, the final five days of the shopping season accounted for a remarkable 10% of all holiday expenditures.
Industry giants like Walmart, Target, and Amazon enhanced their promotional activities and value messaging to draw in customers during this critical shopping period. As Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, stated, “The holiday shopping season revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value,” indicating that concentrated spending during major promotional events was particularly significant.
Online shopping saw a robust increase of 6.7%, outpacing last year’s 6.3% growth, with apparel categories showing particularly strong demand. Competitors in the low-cost e-commerce space, such as Shein and PDD Holding’s Temu, successfully attracted shoppers with appealing offers during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Mastercard SpendingPulse provides a comprehensive measure of retail sales, encompassing both in-store and online transactions across various payment methods, while specifically excluding automotive sales from its calculations.
Source
www.investing.com