By Senad Karaahmetovic
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) announced yesterday that its data showed U.S. retail sales excluding automotive increased 7.6% year-over-year this holiday season (from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24). Online sales rose 10.6% YoY with e-commerce making up 21.6% of total retail sales. Black Friday saw a 12% increase in YoY sales.
Elsewhere, Mastercard also noted a strong increase for in-person dining with restaurants spending up 15.1% YoY.
“Inflation altered the way U.S. consumers approached their holiday shopping – from hunting for the best deals to making trade-offs that stretched gift-giving budgets,” said Michelle Meyer, North America Chief Economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. “Consumers and retailers navigated the season well, displaying resilience amid increasing economic pressures.”
Wedbush analysts said Mastercard’s data was “essentially in-line with expectations.” Still, the analysts also saw “a number of interesting twists, including continued, solid strength in eCommerce, BF retains its title as the top spending day of the year, and among the verticals tracked, Restaurants had the strongest performance, while electronics and jewelry posted the weakest performance.”
“We believe these results bode well for the networks (V, MA), as well as for PYPL, which continues to dominate eCommerce,” they said in a client note.