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Retailers Cash Registers Still Ringing from Final Talley of Holiday Sales

CBN

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It was a very Merry Christmas season for the nation's retailers.  

Year-end sales rose nearly 5 percent compared with 2016.  That's the biggest increase in six years, according to a report by Mastercard.

"Overall, this year was a big win for retail," Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of Market Insights, Mastercard, said in a statement issued with the report. "The strong US economy was a contributing factor, but we also have to recognize that retailers who tried new strategies to engage holiday shoppers were the beneficiaries of this sales increase."

The report for the holiday shopping season – from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 – also showed results by category.

Home goods, including the sales of electronics and appliances, were up by almost 8 percent. It was the strongest growth in this category in the past 10 years.

Remember those Christmas promotions right after Halloween and into the first weeks of November? They apparently worked, driving up sales across the board.

The spending continued until late in the season. The Saturday before Christmas Eve was second only to Black Friday in single-day spending.

Online sales also took a big jump, rising 18 percent. 

Overall holiday spending hit a new high. One report claimed shoppers spent $598 billion this season.

Analysts say confidence in a growing economy and lower unemployment helped fuel the holiday spending boom.

The findings were based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, along with survey based-estimates for other forms of payment, including cash and checks, Mastercard said. The data does not include auto sales.
 

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