Holiday


Initial Holiday Results: Much better than expected

Holiday sales for November-December approached a 6% gain, which outpaced forecasts of a better holiday and year-ago performance by as much as two percentage points or more. The strength was evident across all types of brick and mortar stores—not just online….


A Better Holiday – Except at Apparel Stores

In-store holiday retail sales will improve from last year except at apparel stores—but gains will continue to benefit e-commerce retailers most of all. The forecast addresses: How much? MacroSavvy™ forecasts holiday sales* topping 4% growth—a pickup of half a percentage point—with…


Retail spending in 2017 suddenly looks weak

The trend in retail spending suddenly looks much weaker through April—partly as a result of revisions to the government-reported retail data. December holiday results also were revised downward. Sales excluding autos and fuel are growing roughly between 2.5% and 3.5% in…


Updated Holiday Results: Revised Down a Bit

Brick and mortar retail gains for the November-December holiday were about 2.4%–given topline sales gains that were revised down a bit to 3.9% and online gains that came in at an estimated 14.9%. The results were slightly higher than expected. The…


See-Saw Start to 2017 Retail Spending

Retail spending to start 2017 continues to see-saw between weak-to-modest growth. In January, sales improved slightly from a weak December, according to the latest government data. So far, the numbers do not suggest that a big jump in spending is in…


Initial Holiday Results: Stronger in Places

The 4% gain in holiday sales for November-December was stronger than expected and stronger than a year ago—by about half a percentage point on both counts. The better results occurred partly at brick and mortar stores—not just online. The in-store results,…