Retail sales in the US rose seven per cent between early November 2022 and December 2022 end. So says Mastercard.

This encompasses a majority of the holiday season as steep discounts lured deal-hungry consumers. However, this year's holiday retail sales growth is less than the eight per cent increase last year as decades-high inflation, rising interest rates and the threat of a recession turned consumers cautious.

Retailers including Amazon and Walmart in the United States offered large discounts during the holiday season to get rid of excess stock and bring back inventories to normal levels. That led to strong demand for everything from toys to electronics during the five-day-long period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

However, sales of electronics dropped five per cent over the broader roughly two-month period. But sales in the apparel and restaurants categories rose four per cent and 15 per cent respectively and helping boost the overall number.Online sales jumped 10.6 per cent in the period, slightly less than the 11 per cent increase last year. Meanwhile, during the cyber week, total retail sales had jumped about 11 per cent.

Mastercard Spending Pulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment. It excludes automotive sales.

By Fashionating World
https://www.fashionatingworld.com/new1-2/us-holiday-season-sales-up-seven-per-cent