Congratulations
internet and brick & mortar retailers, you just wrapped up a pretty
phenomenal holiday season. Just how good was it? Well, the numbers according to
Mastercard are about $850 Billion in retail sales from November 1st to December
24th Christmas Eve. This represents a 5.1% increase over last
year marking the fastest growth in sales in over six years. When you dig a bit
deeper, there are some interesting takeaways from this holiday season that
warrant closer inspection.
Apparel had a banner season– As a category, apparel certainly put its best foot
forward this holiday season. According to data reported by Mastercard, the
category saw an 8% increase in sales over 2017 during the same holiday period
noted earlier November 1st to December 24th. What was driving the big boost to the
category this year? A few factors which included one we discussed in a previous
article the self-gifting phenomena. Yes, it’s real and consumers really spent quite a bit
this year to keep themselves happy this holiday season. Other contributing
factors included an early onset of cold weather and many retailers just keeping
their shelves filled with just enough stuff and offering fewer discounts than
in previous years.
Click and collect was big this
season– There was an awful lot of
last-minute holiday shopping this season and consumers unwilling to pay
exorbitant fees for last minute holiday shipping instead opted to pickup
in-store in record numbers. According to Adobe Analytics in-store pickup rose
over 47% this season. Big box retailers like Best Buy, Kohl’s and Target
benefited the most from the click and collect sales model as these companies
have been quite successful in creating a user-friendly experience. As any
consumer who remembers attempting an in-store pick up a few years ago will
remember, most store locations had no dedicated pickup point you simply
wandered in with your receipt and hoped you could find someone that was willing
to help you. Now that’s changed pickup points are permanent locations and they
make it fast and painless. This is one very important way that traditional
brick and mortar retail has a leg up on the internet only retailers. Why wait a
day or two for shipping and have to pay extra for last minute shipping costs
when you can simply drive down to your local Target to pick it up?
Signs point to continued strong
sales post-holiday season –
Consumer confidence going into the holiday season this year was at record
highs. This was driven in part by increasing wages and record low unemployment.
The consumer was also given an early holiday present this year in the form of
lower fuel costs. Extra disposable income in their pockets translated into
increased spending this holiday season. As 2019 dawns these low fuel costs are
expected to remain, and many consumers will soon be benefiting in the form of
their tax returns. A confident consumer with a job and increased disposable
income not to mention a tax return check coming soon is likely to keep on the
spending roll that they went on this past holiday season.
We salute all our customers who keep grinding. Keep grinding and you will succeed!
This year we saw countless number of customers growing with
us and making their dreams come true!
Visit Foxliquidation.com and make your dreams happen today!