Holiday Retail Sales See Biggest Increase Since 2011

Purchase, N.Y.--Holiday retail sales saw their largest increase since 2011 this year, according to MasterCard, due to strong consumer confidence and more online and late-season shopping.  

The company’s SpendingPulse report showed that holiday sales were up almost 5 percent this year, setting a new record for dollars spent. (MasterCard did not release the final dollar amount.)

The report details holiday shopping from November 1 through December 24 and covers retail sales across all payment types, including cash and check.

It also showed that online shopping saw massive growth of 18 percent when compared with 2016, boosted by plenty of late-season shopping.

Other key findings of the Mastercard SpendingPulse report include the following.

--Many shoppers were focused on home-related purchases. Electronics and appliances increased by nearly 8 percent, the category’s strongest growth in the past decade. Home furniture and furnishings, meanwhile, grew 5 percent, as did home improvement.

--Specialty apparel and department stores, both of which usually see the bulk of sales happening in store, saw moderate gains, which is “particularly impressive given recent store closings,” MasterCard said.

--Heavy promotions early in the season by retailers paid off, with the first three weeks of November seeing significant growth.

--Shoppers also were spending late into the holiday season, with Dec. 23 falling only after Black Friday in terms of single-day spending. This was a boon to certain categories, including jewelry. Jewelry grew 5.9 percent, largely driven by last-minute sales.

“Evolving consumer preferences continue to play out in the aisles and online sites of retailers across the U.S.,” said Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of Market Insights, Mastercard. “Overall, this year was a big win for retail. The strong U.S. economy was a contributing factor, but we also have to recognize that retailers who tried new strategies to engage holiday shoppers were the beneficiaries of this sales increase.”

Though the National Retail Federation has not yet released its final holiday sales numbers--it will do so in mid-January--CEO Matthew Shay issued the following statement to National Jeweler:

“This holiday season’s big winners--in addition to consumers--were retailers of all shapes and sizes across all segments. From online and luxury retailers to department and discount stores, from Main Street to mega stores and everything in between, traffic and sales were generally up. In October, NRF forecasted holiday retail sales to increase between 3.6 and 4 percent for a total of $678.75