WASHINGTON – Retail sales grew for the sixth month in a row in October, the National Retail Federation said Tuesday. Besides increasing compared to September, October sales were also up compared to October of last year. “We are encouraged by another positive retail sales number for October — the sixth consecutive positive monthly gain —
Tis the season for predictions about just how much consumers will spend on holiday gifts, food and decorations. So far the surveys mostly suggest that consumer spending will tick up, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, although how people will shop and what they will buy will be different this year. One change is that this year’s
NEW YORK — Walmart and Target are hiring extra employees for the upcoming holiday shopping season, but the retailers say that this year there will be an increased focus on supporting online shopping. Making the in-store shopping experience as safe as possible for customers and employees alike is another top priority. Target said Thursday that
WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects retail sales in the holiday months of November and December to increase between 3.8% and 4.2% from last year’s level. Holiday sales of between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion would represent a slight improvement over the five-year average of a 3.7% increase, NRF said early this month.
The upcoming holiday season is projected to be a good one for the retail industry. But much of the sales growth will be a result of additional traffic on retailers’ websites rather than in their stores. Online spending during the upcoming holiday shopping season is expected to grow 14.8%, to $124.1 billion, according to Adobe
NEW YORK — As the holiday shopping season gets under way, the latest forecasts suggest that consumer spending will be up this year. But retailers are taking no chances, offering special deals and free shipping to get customers to shop their stores or websites. Walmart announced this month that it is expanding its product assortment
The recent holiday season turned out to be a pretty merry one for retailers, preliminary figures suggest. And while consumers are shifting more of their shopping to online venues, they also continue to flock to brick-and-mortar stores, and even once again proved willing to fight the crowds to take advantage of Black Friday deals. That
The holiday selling season remains, just weeks before it kicks off, a mystery, at least in terms of what’s going to happen. Even now, Christmas merchandise is in the stores, awaiting set-up. Holiday promotions have long since been planned, and advertising is locked in. All that waits is for the customer to choose her preferences.