US retail sales up 4.9% in holiday season: Report

Specialty apparel and department stores, which both traditionally see the bulk of sales happen in-store, saw moderate gains, according to the SpendingPulse report by Mastercard, a technology company in the global payments industry. The report covers retail sales across all payment types, including cash and check. Retailers’ heavy early-season promotions paid off, with the first three weeks of November seeing significant jumps. The home furniture and furnishings category grew 5.1 percent, as did home improvement.

"Evolving consumer preferences continue to play out in the aisles and online sites of retailers across the US," said Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of market insights, Mastercard. "Overall, this year was a big win for retail. The strong US economy was a contributing factor, but we also have to recognise that retailers who tried new strategies to engage holiday shoppers were the beneficiaries of this sales increase." (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India