NEW YORK (AP) — More people did their shopping online this year during one of the shortest holiday shopping seasons in years, helping to push total sales higher.
Retail sales in the U.S. rose 3.4% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 compared with last year, according to early data from Mastercard SpendingPulse.
Online sales rose at a faster pace, up 18.8% from last year. Online shopping made up nearly 15% of total retail sales.
Mastercard SpendingPulse tracked spending online and in stores across all payment types, including those who paid by cash or check. Sales of automobiles are not included.
Faced with the shortest holiday shopping season since 2013, stores were trumpeting deals even before Halloween with hopes of getting people to think about Christmas.
Thanksgiving landed on Nov. 28 this year, the latest possible date it could fall. That meant six fewer days than last year, forcing last-minute shoppers to scramble. The Saturday before Christmas was the busiest shopping day in U.S. history, surpassing Black Friday, according to research firm Customer Growth Partners.
Clothing sales rose 1%, Mastercard said. Jewelry sales increased 1.8%. Sales of electronics and appliances rose 4.6%. And furniture sales grew 1.3%.
Department stores, which have been hit hard by the rise of online shopping, still had trouble getting shoppers in their doors: total sales fell 1.8%, Mastercard said.
A look into how disruption, AI, and global economic trends are transforming the modern supply chain with Jeremy Jansen, Head of Supply Chain at Wells Fargo.
Delta CSO Amelia DeLuca reveals at the Fast Co. Innovation Festival how tech, sustainable aviation fuel, and smart operations are revolutionizing air travel.
Chipmaker Nvidia will invest $100 billion in OpenAI as part of a partnership that will add at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia AI data centers to ramp up the computing power for the owner of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
Two of the nation’s biggest real estate services companies are combining in a deal that will bring Century 21, Compass and several other major brokerage brands under the same umbrella.
Colin & Samir break down YouTube’s $100B payout to creators and explore why nearly a third of Gen Alpha want to be YouTubers — plus what that means for you.
