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Record online sales give U.S. holiday shopping season a boost: report

Published 12/25/2019, 06:56 PM
Updated 12/25/2019, 06:56 PM
© Reuters. Shoppers make their way through Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, decorated for the holidays, in Arlington, Virginia

© Reuters. Shoppers make their way through Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, decorated for the holidays, in Arlington, Virginia

(Reuters) - U.S. shoppers spent more online during this year's holiday shopping season, a report by Mastercard Inc (N:MA) showed on Wednesday, with e-commerce sales hitting a record high.

The holiday shopping season is a crucial period for retailers and can account for up to 40% of annual sales. But this year, Thanksgiving, which traditionally starts the U.S. holiday shopping period, was on Nov. 28, nearly a week later than last year's Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

E-commerce sales this year made up 14.6% of total retail and rose 18.8% from the 2018 period, according to Mastercard’s data tracking retail sales from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve.

Overall holiday retail sales, excluding autos, rose 3.4%.

"E-commerce sales hit a record high this year with more people doing their holiday shopping online," said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard.

"Due to a later than usual Thanksgiving holiday, we saw retailers offering omnichannel sales earlier in the season, meeting consumers’ demand for the best deals across all channels and devices,” Sadove said.

Retailers have invested heavily to provide same-day delivery, lockers for store pick-up and improve their online presence as they battle against retail giant Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN) for market share.

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose support in the polls has been buoyed by strong economic data despite his impeachment by the House of Representatives, heralded the news in a tweet in all capital letters.

"2019 HOLIDAY RETAIL SALES WERE UP 3.4% FROM LAST YEAR, THE BIGGEST NUMBER IN U.S. HISTORY. CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!," Trump tweeted.

However, Mastercard spokesman William Tsang, citing 2018's 5.1% growth in total sales, said this year's holiday sales growth was not the biggest ever.

The White House had no immediate comment on the apparent discrepancy.

Despite slowing global growth, U.S. consumer spending is benefiting from wage growth and a strong labor market, retail consultants and analysts say.

The holiday season was challenging for retailers after Amazon expanded its free return policy to include products that were not previously eligible, giving consumers until January to return even small purchases bought on the website.

The National Retail Federation had forecast U.S. holiday retail sales over the two months to increase between 3.8% and 4.2%. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.7% over the past five years.

© Reuters. Shoppers make their way through Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, decorated for the holidays, in Arlington, Virginia

The SpendingPulse report tracks spending by combining sales activity in Mastercard's payments network with estimates of cash and other payment forms but excludes automobile sales.

Latest comments

What the fish? Sun on the beach, US national debt is at $23.1Trullion, average out to $70,000 per citizen. This is fishing crazy.
Personnal Debt per American minus mortgages is $38,000
That'll give you a total 9f 108,000
We as a nation are heading into bankruptcy, so will many Americans. We are loaded with debt, so it will fall over quick like dominoes.
Across the board, Americans are in debt $70,000 each. Average American can't get their hands on $400 cash in an emergency. Congratulations America! In debt more than ever!!! The market will rally again.
The Donald....The Machiavellian Prince.! The Donald....how many pages is the book?
NO ipod, NO iPhone , , back orders
I meant Best buy shelves.All empty
I bought tons of Gifts this year, I saw big lines in Walmart, I saw BEST BUY sold out iPhone, ipod, I noticed Target had full of [people in stores like Walmart , CVS, RiteAid, Bestbuy
And....then you woke up. Hallelujah !
Nasdaq future is already going up
How do we know this number is not fudged? This number doesn't make sense at all. Most people are in debt so I think lower spending this year for sure.
Imagine thinking people make rational desicions
More debt. Just like companies with the fed. Debt yay!
How do we know this number is not fudged? This number doesn't make sense at all. Most people are in debt so I think lower spending this year for sure.
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