Commentary

Holiday Haul: Retail Spending Grew This Year, And Online Even More

Email marketers can rejoice — they must be doing something right.

Overall retail sales grew by 3.8% YoY from November 1 through December 24, excluding automotive. But ecommerce revenue jumped by 6.7%, showing once again that this is the preferred shopping venue of consumers, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse. 

In contrast, in-store retail grew by 2.9% during this period. 

The last five days of the season produced 10% of all holiday sales.

What was driving this increased spending?

“This holiday season, we saw consumers motivated by deals and retailers respond with promotions to meet the demand,” says Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO and chairman of Saks Incorporated. “The value-minded consumer showed up to shop at brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, with retailers managing across both to capture attention throughout the season.”

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Consumers spent money on apparel (showing a 3.6% uptick), jewelry (4%) and electronics (3.7%). They also enjoyed dining out, generating a 6.3% boost YoY. 

Regionally, the biggest growth in ecommerce YoY came from Tampa (10.6%), Phoenix (10.0%), Minneapolis (8.9%), Dallas (8.4%), Charlotte (7.9%), Orlando (7.8%), and Houston (7.6%) 

“The holiday shopping season revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value as can be seen by concentrated e-commerce spending during the biggest promotional periods,” says Michelle Meyer, chief economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. “Solid spending during this holiday season underscores the strength we observed from the consumer all year, supported by the healthy labor market and household wealth gains.”

 

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