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What you need to know
- According to National Retail Federation, this weekend more than 157 millions people may be shopping.
- Online, holiday spending is strong, but less so in-store.
- The NRF reports that retailers are expecting to close the year with a bang, as they expect sales to reach $989.9 billion or 3.5 percent more than in 2017.
Retailers believe that the already brisk holiday season will continue to accelerate as we near Christmas.
Retailers are optimistic about a strong season’s finale as early indicators indicate that Americans will spend a lot online in 2018. However, some data indicates fewer sales at stores.
Adobe announced that the digital spend on Black Friday reached an all-time high of $10.8 Billion. The National Retail Federation reported that this contributed to retail spending increasing by 1.4% in November compared with last year. The trade group believes that the trend will continue. Only 10% of consumers indicated that their gift lists had been completed by the end of the month.
NRF estimates that 157,000,000 people will shop during the final weekend before Christmas. That would be the highest amount ever in the past few years. Many consumers — some 70% — plan to shop in the days immediately following Christmas, NRF said, so they can take advantage of deals, use gift cards and return unwanted items. The group estimates that by January holiday spending could reach $989 billion — an increase of about 3.5% over last year.
“With a shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers will be hitting stores and shopping online to get those final gifts and to take advantage of special promotions and deals,” said Katherine Cullen, NRF's vice president of industry and consumer insights.
Goldman Sachs analyst wrote that spending online has risen, but brick-and mortar shops, which account for 70 percent of retail sales have been less affected. RetailNext traffic analytics found that Black Friday sales dropped 2.3% and stores saw 3% fewer customers.
RetailNext reports that a healthy portion of people who browsed in person actually made a purchase. This shows the deliberateness this year.
“They’re being more intentional with their purchases, often opting for higher-ticket items over filling their baskets with smaller goods,” Joe Shasteen said, Global Head of Advanced Analytics at RetailNext. “It’s clear that intentional spending remains the theme."
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