Storms help take wind out of US holiday sales - report
By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Bad weather that kept shoppers away from the malls combined with a weak housing market to take some of the wind out of holiday sales, nationwide figures supplied by MasterCard Advisors revealed.
From the day after Thanksgiving through Dec. 24, adjusted retail sales, excluding automobiles, grew about 3 percent, compared with last year's 5.2 percent, according to sales figures captured by SpendingPulse, the retail data service provider for MasterCard Advisors.
The figures were adjusted to provide a comparison of the 2006 holiday season, comprised of 31 days, with the 2005 holiday season, comprised of 30 days. Unadjusted, national retail sales grew 6.6 percent in 2006, the figures showed.
"When you have a 30-day period, one extra shopping day does add quite a bit to the total season growth rate," said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors.
"I think a lot of people were hoping that the end of the season would really bail out a lot of the apparel sectors," he said. "The disruptive weather didn't help."
In fact, warm weather wilted sales of cold-weather clothing, McNamara said. The weak housing market, which prevented home owners from taking out home equity loans also dragged down total retail sales, especially in furniture, he added.
Employment, however, was seen as a positive factor boosting sales, McNamara said.
The best overall performance was turned in by the U.S. Mountain region, with sales growing 8.2 percent despite a blizzard late in the shopping season, according to MasterCard Advisors.
Luxury mall owner Taubman Centers Inc.<TCO.N> closed Denver's Cherry Creek mall early on Wednesday and Thursday. But that only served to fuel shopper traffic on Friday and Saturday, when business was exceptionally strong, the company said.
The densely populated Northeast saw sales rise 7.9 percent above last year. But sales in the central Great Plains region limped along, up just 0.6 percent, while the West Coast saw sales decline by 1.7 percent because of inclement weather in the Pacific Northwest.
Holiday sales, especially during the final week, can have a material impact on an array of retailers including, Gap Inc. <GPS.N>, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. <WMT.N>, high-end handbag and accessories maker Coach Inc.<COH.N>, and department store operator Federated Department Stores Inc. <FD.N>
Buyers who couldn't make it to the malls booted up their computers and went shopping online, McNamara said.
"E-commerce was a pleasant surprise in the second half of the season," he said. Midway through, online sales grew by the mid-teens from last year, and online growth for the entire season was up by the high-teens.
Although the e-commerce figures were a bit lower than last year, McNamara cautioned against comparing growth rates because of the small base of the relatively recent mode of shopping.
Consumer electronics led the way as gifts in demand, the data showed. Luxury goods -- priced over $1,000 -- also were in high demand.
But diamonds didn't make luxury sales sparkle.
If you take luxury goods excluding jewelry, McNamara said, the increase would have been higher.
In general, men's apparel also sold well, as did footwear.
Sales of apparel for children and women, however, were weak but did not decline, he said.
At the lower end of the price spectrum, sales picked up toward the end of the holiday shopping season as retailers slashed prices to move merchandise. But overall, the higher end of the market outperformed the lower end.
"Generally you see those discounts kick in at the end of the season," McNamara said.
The dynamic is different for higher priced items.
"If someone is going to go out and buy their big gift, those items tend to go a little bit earlier, especially in consumer electronics, where people are worried about inventory running out," he said.
SpendingPulse uses MasterCard information to extrapolate total retail sales and the performance of the general retail economy. |
