Sales Results for the Holiday Season
The holiday season is over, and now retailers are assessing how successful the sales period was (or was not). The National Retail Federation had been predicting for six months that economic uncertainty could affect holiday sales, and in some ways it did. December retail sales, (which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted from November and increased 2.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Overall, however, total holiday retail sales increased 3.0 percent, but below NRF’s projected forecast of 4.1 percent,
Non-store retail sales increased 11 percent in December, according to NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz, but certain categories like electronics fell short of expectations. Other categories showing increases include the following:
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· Clothing and clothing accessories
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· Furniture and home furnishings
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· Health and personal care
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· Sporting goods
Economic challenges will always be with us, as we all know. Perhaps the best defense against a slow economy is to make sure you are up-to-date on the tools necessary to bring in the customers who are buying, wherever they are buying. If it’s in your brick-and-mortar store or your online store, CounterPoint’s CPMobile is a tool that will capture that sale when the moment is right!
For more information, call us at 425-672-4806 or email us.