Put a bow on it

Sales slow, but beat forecasts

TURNS OUT holiday sales were a little better than expected — though it was still the lowest growth rate in four years.

Shoppers spent $265.9 billion at brick-and-mortar stores during the holiday season — the most on record and a gain of 2.7% over the previous year, according to ShopperTrak.

The research firm, which measures foot traffic at retailers nationwide, said it was the fourth straight year that sales rose between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The gain was more than the 2.4% increase ShopperTrak had forecast before the season started.

But it was below the 3% growth stores saw during the 2012 holiday day season, and nd was the lowwest gain since ce 2009, when n the U.S. was s mired in an economic slump.

“Sales were decent, but not great,” ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin told the Daily News.

“It can be characterized as decelerating growth, but we are seeing four years of consecutive compound growth,” Martin added.

Foot traffic was down nearly 15%, while online spen spending ro rose

10% from last year as consumers had six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, ShopperTrak said.

Retailers responded with deep discounts lasting into late December that helped fuel a lastminute sales surge.

“There was a tremendous amount of traffic in the days before Christmas,” Martin said.

“There was a real softness in early December, then a roaring finish.”