US holiday season sales hit 6-year high

Source: Xinhua | 2018-12-27

Sales during the US holiday shopping season rose 5.1 percent to over US$850 billion in 2018, the strongest in the past six years, according to a Mastercard report, as shoppers were encouraged by a robust economy and early discounts.

The data includes in-store and online sales between November 1 and December 24. The National Retail Federation had forecast US holiday retail sales to rise between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent.

“From shopping aisles to online carts, consumer confidence translated into holiday cheer for retail,” said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard.

Near full employment and rising wages have boosted consumer spending, which in October hit its highest in nearly two decades.

The data also indicated that consumer confidence was not dented by recent volatility in the US stock markets and worries over slowing global growth.

With Christmas Eve falling on a Monday this year, customers got an extra day for shopping.

Not surprisingly, online sales posted strong gains, rising 19.1 percent, according to the SpendingPulse retail report, published by Mastercard’s analytics arm.

Amazon.com Inc said yesterday it had a “record-breaking” holiday season, with a billion items shipped for free with Prime in the United States alone.

In contrast, sales at department stores slipped 1.3 percent, after two years of below 2 percent growth, largely due to store closures. But online sales grew 10.2 percent, as heavy spending on e-commerce to tackle continuing drop in store traffic paid off.