With cheaper gas, holiday shoppers give sales a boost
After a rocky start to the holiday shopping season, retailers benefited from cheaper gas prices and an improving job market.
Customer Growth Partners President Craig Johnson, who tracks the retail industry, said he expects holiday sales to show a growth rate of about 3.9 percent.
The decline in gas prices could free up $3 billion in holiday consumption, Johnson said.
Sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas rose 5.5 percent, according to MasterCard Advisors, with jewelry and women’s clothing among the strongest categories. Johnson’s research showed that this season was the best in years for both consumer electronics and toys, helped by Apple’s iPhone 6 and dolls from the Disney movie “Frozen.”
The National Retail Federation has predicted that sales in November and December will gain 4.1 percent, the biggest increase since 2011.
Slower sales and foot traffic during the post-Thanksgiving weekend had stoked concern that this holiday season would be a disappointment as well. Spending tumbled an estimated 11 percent over the Black Friday weekend from a year earlier, the retail trade group said.
And a worker slowdown at West Coast ports delayed the arrival of some merchandise.
E-commerce sellers also offered deals. The average discount was $47.06 this year, up from $22.50 a year ago, according to data from TrackIF.com, a price-tracking website that monitors online sales.
Discounts on TVs were up 259 percent, said Doug Berg, TrackIF.com’s CEO. Berg said that with new 4K and curved televisions on the market, other models were marked down.
“They knew the more they could throw at people, the better they would do,” he said.
FedEx and United Parcel Service also fared better at getting lastminute orders to shoppers this year, said Steven Osburn of consulting firm Kurt Salmon. Calmer weather in most of the country and better preparation helped, Osburn said.
Retailers still don’t have the final read on the season, though. The week after Christmas, which draws shoppers to use gift cards and make returns, is gaining importance, according to Johnson.