Holiday Shopping Data

The Department of Commerce said that retail spending rose in December at the fastest pace in three months. Overall sales were up 0.6 percent, easily topping Wall Street's estimate for a 0.4 percent increase and double the already surprisingly strong gain of 0.3 percent in November. Compared with a year ago, sales were up 5.6 percent.

Excluding auto dealers and gas stations, retail sales were also up 0.6 percent. Auto sales were strong, rising 1.1 percent, but gas station sales fell, reflecting a 19-cent decline in gasoline prices.

There's no doubt that holiday shopping was a big boost. Sales at department stores soared three percent for the month, and online sales jumped 1.5 percent. Sales at the category that includes sporting goods stores, hobby stores, and bookstores rose 0.3 percent.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas!

Black Friday 2018

What we know so far...

Time to start thinking about shopping!

Black Friday Sales Up, Up and Up

The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start on Black Friday, with retail sales up 7 percent over last year, according to the most recent survey. Now, can stores keep buyers coming back without the promise of door-buster savings.  I have to bet we haven't heard the term "doorbuster" for the last time in 2011.

Buyers spent $11.4 billion at retail stores and malls, up nearly $1 billion from last year, according to a Saturday report from ShopperTrak. It was the largest amount ever spent on the day that marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007. Chicago-based ShopperTrak gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the U.S., including individual stores and shopping centers.

The reason for the increase in sales.  My theory is the stores were open earlier and longer.  In 2010, stores opened at 4, 5, and 6am.  This Black Friday, stores opened at the stroke of midnight.

Bill Martin, who founded ShopperTrak, said he was surprised by the strong showing. He had expected the weak economy to dent consumer confidence and keep more shoppers out of the stores, or at least from spending much. Instead, he said, they responded to a blanket of promotions, from 60- and 70-percent off deals to door-buster savings on electronics.

More good news, sales were also up 4 percent each in the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, as retailers started their promotions earlier than usual or extended their hours.

My experience at Black Friday around Atlanta was full parking lots and 2-hour waits in some checkout lines.

At Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, N.C., Mary Aker was forced to use valet parking Friday because she couldn't find a parking spot. But on Saturday, the pace had let up a little, so she and her husband came back to do some more shopping.

Over the past six years, Black Friday was the biggest sales day of the year, and it is expected to keep that crown this year, though shoppers seem to be procrastinating more every year and the fate of the holiday season is increasingly coming down to the last few days before Christmas.

Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.1 percent of overall holiday sales. Black Friday made up about half of that.

Christmas Eve is the New Black Friday

It's Black Friday, again. Stores are rolling out deals and expect to be swimming in shoppers on Christmas Eve as stragglers take advantage of a day off work. For retailers, the last-minute rush caps the best year since 2007, and possibly ever.

With Christmas falling on a Saturday this year, Friday is a holiday for most U.S. workers. That lets shoppers hit the stores first thing in the morning.

Some are calling it "Fantastic Friday." While both are heavy shopping days, Christmas Eve draws a different breed of buyer than Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season.

"Those who get up and brave the cold on Black Friday are usually looking for hot items, not only to buy gifts but to score something for themselves," said Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. "They're planners, and they map out what they want to buy."

Shoppers who come out on Christmas Eve, on the other hand, were either waiting for the biggest discounts or they didn't have the money to spend earlier, she said. Or they just tend to procrastinate.

Many stores are offering deep discounts leading up to Christmas. Express's store at the Manhattan Mall in New York City had a huge yellow sign in its storefront window promoting an "end of the season 50 percent sale" on selected items.

Macy's is offering 30 percent off some bags and jewelry, while the Gap is applying that markdown to everything in the store. At CVS, there are buy-two-get-one free deals on bath-and-body gift sets and discounts on a 7-inch LCD TV and DVD player combo.

Gift cards are proving to be popular again this year. Spending on the plastic vouchers is expected to reach nearly $25 billion this holiday season, 5 percent more than last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Michelle Jose, marketing manager for White Marsh Mall in White Marsh, Md., says that more than half of the mall's gift card sales for the entire year are made in the last three days before Christmas and she expects "strong sales to finish up the holiday."

Happy last-minute shopping!