While online spending surged, the overall picture for Thanksgiving weekend spending was more mixed as the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers continued to struggle. Nevertheless, overall spending was about 4% higher. The National Retail Foundation (NRF) estimated that 174 million Americans shopped online or in stores over the period (Thursday to Monday), versus 164 million the previous year, although the latter excluded Cyber Monday. According to Bloomberg.
‘The big takeaway here is: Gone are the days you could measure the success of this weekend by looking at a single metric,’ NRF Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay said on a conference call.
It’s also difficult to tell from the NRF data how e-commerce sales compared with brick-and-mortar shopping. But other surveys have indicated that physical chains saw smaller crowds this year. The research firm ShopperTrak found that shopper visits declined 1.6 percent combined on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
Overall spending in the holiday season is expected to rise as much as 4 percent from last year, helped by low unemployment and rising home values. The purchases will amount to about $680 billion in November and December, the Washington-based NRF has estimated.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 29, 2017.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments