Retail sales were up a full 8.5% this year for the holiday shopping period, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse from Purchase-based Mastercard.
Mastercard SpendingPulse is a retail data information and analytics report measuring across all retail industries and payment types. It found consumers had upped in-store spending by 8.1% year over year, and online sales grew by 11%.
Total retail sales have surpassed prepandemic levels by 10.7%.
Apparel, jewelry, department store and electronic sales did especially well, up by roughly 47%, 32%, 21% and 16%, respectively, from the same period last year.
E-commerce made up a fifth of total retail sales, similar to last year’s proportion. Before the pandemic, it had made up 14.6% of sales, and in total, e-commerce during the holiday season grew by 61.4% since 2019.
Timing of sales was also key to understanding this year’s consumer patterns, similar to last year, with many consumers choosing to shop early. Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and former chairman and CEO of Saks, attributed this at least partially to fears of supply chain and labor supply issues.
The data looked at the period between Oct. 11 and Dec. 24, finding that total retail sales were up 8.6% year over year for that period, while Thanksgiving weekend sales were up 14.1%.
