Retail Sales Increase 0.6 Percent In November
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Numbers fall into line with NRF Holiday Forecast
The National Retail Federation reported that November retail spending rose 0.6 percent over October figures and 3.2 percent year-over-year as a result of deep discounting and early sales.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, all retail categories witnessed a monthly increase in sales, including clothing and clothing accessories stores, electronics and appliance stores and non-store retailers.
While the signs were good, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay cautioned that retailers must remember, "The holiday season is a marathon, not a sprint, and there are plenty of important holiday shopping days ahead of us, including the week leading up to Super Saturday."
The latest figures remain consistent with NRF’s holiday sales forecast, issued in October, which anticipated a 4.1 gain over 2013.
“As we’ve said all along, retailers are optimistic that they will see healthy holiday sales gains this year,” Shay explained in the NRF article. “November sales results confirm that optimism, and we are steadfast in our belief that we are on track to reach the 4.1 percent growth in holiday sales that NRF forecasted in October.”
According to Entrepreneur, November's strong retail figures demonstrated that the holiday shopping season was off to a strong start, and dispelled the gloom from a drop in Black Friday weekend commerce. Although Black Friday has historically marked the start of holiday sales, analysts have found that consumers have changed their habits, now spending through the month and shopping online more frequently.
“Consumer trends show that the shopping experience continues to evolve for both retailers and consumers,” Shay said. “Shoppers this holiday season are seizing opportunities to take advantage of early promotions and showing signs they may wait until the end of the season when promotions are even greater.”
In conjunction with the strong job reports and predictors of future wage growth, the sales data could serve to bolster confidence in the durability of the recovery as the Federal Reserve debates the future of U.S. interest rates, according to Entrepreneur.
“Increasing wages combined with lower gas prices are providing retailers with an early holiday present this year,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Every economic indicator is pointing toward a strong holiday season. Healthy November sales should provide momentum for an even stronger December as customers continue to seek out deals all the way to Christmas.”