- Title: Record online sales give U.S. holiday shopping season a boost - report
- Date: 26th December 2019
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 26, 2019) (REUTERS) CUSTOMERS ENTER OLD NAVY STORE IN TIMES SQUARE CUSTOMERS PAY FOR MERCHINDISE AT GAP STORE IN TIMES SQUARE CUSTOMERS LOOKING AT HOODIES AT GAP STORE CUSTOMER PICKING UP GAP BAG AT CASHIER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIDGWATER, NEW JERSEY, RESIDENT, MICHELLE SMITH, SAYING: "I did just buy a hat. I came into the city for the day, and it was too cold. So, here I am at the Old Navy, buying a hat." OLD NAVY CASHIERS AND CUSTOMERS OLD NAVY CASHIER PUTTING RECEIPT IN BAG AND HANDING BAG OVER TO CUSTOMER OLD NAVY CASHIER CUTTING PRICE TAG ON HAT WOMAN LOOKING AT OLD NAVY TOPS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIDGWATER, NEW JERSEY, RESIDENT, MICHELLE SMITH, SAYING: "I think the economy is great, and I think the prices are as good as I've seen in quite some time, and, so I'm happy. I spent a lot. It's Christmas. That's what you're supposed to do." WOMAN LOOKING AT JEANS AT OLD NAVY STORE AND TALKING TO ASSOCIATE WOMAN LOOKING AT SWEATERS AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIDGWATER, NEW JERSEY, RESIDENT, MICHELLE SMITH, SAYING: "Oh, we got sweaters, and, you know hats and coats and socks. I always get Christmas socks for people, and my husband wanted a new shaver, he got a shaver. What the heck! I got a little device to transfer slides and old pictures into digital medias. And so, that was good. And I got a whole new set of pots and pans, so I can cook." WOMAN LOOKING AT COATS AT OLD NAVY STORE MAN AND WOMAN LOOKING AT SWEATERS AT OLD NAVY STORE WOMAN LOOKING AT TOPS AT OLD NAVY STORE SWATERS AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PUERTO RICO RESIDENT, BELKIS ALVARADO, SAYING: "I'm looking for coats for babies, and I'm also looking for sweaters. Yes." MERCHANDISE ON MANEQUINS AT OLD NAVY STORE WOMAN LOOKING AT TOPS AT OLD NAVY STORE WOMAN LOOKING AT TOPS AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ATLANTA, GEORGIA, RESIDENT, JESSICA PEADEA, SAYING: "So, we have some shoes, a couple of little cardigans and some jeans for the kids, for the little ones." SALE SIGNS AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ATLANTA, GEORGIA, RESIDENT, HARRY PEADEA, SAYING: "It just depends if you get the value, you know, it could be 20 bucks, 50 bucks, a couple hundred bucks, it's... it's... whatever the value is there for you, you know, that's... whoever's opinion it is, but, you know, 20, 50, 100 bucks, you know, somewhere in some of those price ranges we end up with." TOPS AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ATLANTA, GEORGIA, RESIDENT, JESSICA PEADEA, SAYING: "Ahh, we're just, you know, we're just really enjoying it. Enjoying the shopping. Today's got a great, you know... everywhere has got great deals today, so I think it's gonna be really good." MAN AND WOMAN LOOKING AT HOODIES WITH GAP LOGO AT GAP STORE OUTFIT ON MANEKIN AT OLD NAVY STORE SHERPA JACKET WITH SALE SIGN AT GAP STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) GAP INC, SENIOR DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS, SANDY GOLDBERG, SAYING: "So, I think the biggest trend that we saw across our brands this year was gifting cozy items. So, whether that was our jingle jammies, or Sherpa products, or our favorite cozy sock at Old Navy, or other cozy items across all of our brands, gifting cozy was really the biggest trend we saw this holiday season." CUSTOMERS AT CASHIER AT GAP STORE ASSOCIATE MOVING SHERPA JACKETS ON RACK 'BUY ONLINE, PICKUP IN-STORE' SIGN AT OLD NAVY STORE (SOUNDBITE) (English) GAP INC, SENIOR DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS, SANDY GOLDBERG, SAYING: "So, being able to connect both the online shopping experience and being able to pre-shop, and then come in quickly and pick up those items really fast has been, has been a growing trend in all of our stores." MAN LOOKING AT JEANS PRICE TAG AT GAP STORE PEOPLE PAYING FOR MERCHANDISE AT GAP STORE ASSOCIATE MOVING TOPS WITH GAP LOGO AT GAP STORE SALE SIGN ON HOODIES AT GAP STORE
- Embargoed: 9th January 2020 19:19
- Keywords: Gap Mastercard SpendingPulse Old Navy U.S. Presidnet Donald Trump brick and mortar e-commerce holiday retail sales holiday season online sales retail sales shopping
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, + MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, + MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBM4DQL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. shoppers spent more online during this year's holiday shopping season, a report by Mastercard showed on Wednesday (December 26), with e-commerce sales hitting a record high.
The holiday shopping season is a crucial period for retailers and can account for up to 40% of annual sales. But this year, Thanksgiving, which traditionally starts the U.S. holiday shopping period, was on Nov. 28, nearly a week later than last year's Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
E-commerce sales this year made up 14.6% of total retail and rose 18.8% from the 2018 period, according to Mastercard's data tracking retail sales from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve.
Overall holiday retail sales, excluding autos, rose 3.4%.
Retailers have invested heavily to provide same-day delivery, lockers for store pick-up and improve their online presence as they battle against retail giant Amazon for market share.
U.S. President Donald Trump, whose support in the polls has been buoyed by strong economic data despite his impeachment by the House of Representatives, heralded the news in a tweet in all capital letters.
"2019 HOLIDAY RETAIL SALES WERE UP 3.4% FROM LAST YEAR, THE BIGGEST NUMBER IN U.S. HISTORY. CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!," Trump tweeted.
However, Mastercard spokesman William Tsang, citing 2018's 5.1% growth in total sales, said this year's holiday sales growth was not the biggest ever.
Despite slowing global growth, U.S. consumer spending is benefiting from wage growth and a strong labor market, retail consultants and analysts say.
The holiday season was challenging for retailers after Amazon expanded its free return policy to include products that were not previously eligible, giving consumers until January to return even small purchases bought on the website.
The National Retail Federation had forecast U.S. holiday retail sales over the two months to increase between 3.8% and 4.2%. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.7% over the past five years.
The SpendingPulse report tracks spending by combining sales activity in Mastercard's payments network with estimates of cash and other payment forms but excludes automobile sales.
(Production: Aleksandra Michalska & Hussein Waaile) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None