A late spending surge helped boost sales last week for many merchants, according to data released Monday, offering relief to retailers in a holiday season that is still projected to be only modestly better than a year ago.
Internet sales and consumer electronics were the winners, both rising strongly from a year ago, but sales at department stores and toy stores fell.
Unlike a year ago, when last-minute spending was insufficient to help retailers meet their holiday goals, this year's finale was strong enough to offset December's earlier weakness, according to Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research at the International Council of Shopping Centers.
"I'm much more upbeat than I was a week ago," said Niemira, who also serves as a consultant at ShopperTrak, which was to release data yesterday showing sales through this past Saturday.
"The surge was late. but it was enough to save the season," he said.
ShopperTrak tallies total sales at 30,000 retail outlets.
"The worry level was high, but sales came through -- but not evenly," Niemira said. He added that the day after Christmas, which starts the post-holiday sales, was much stronger than a year ago.
Niemira believes that overall same-store sales growth is on track to meet his forecast of 4 percent for the November-December period, reduced earlier in the season from 4.5 percent. That's on top of a meager 0.5 percent gain during the holiday season last year from the previous year.
Same-store sales growth, or sales at stores opened at least a year, are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health.
While modest -- given that stores hoped to benefit more from a recovering economy -- the expected gain will still be the biggest since 1999, when Niemira's tally posted a 5.4 percent increase.
On Monday, MasterCard Advisors, a unit of MasterCard International, said that total sales were up 6.5 percent from Nov. 28 through Dec. 24, compared with a year ago. The figures were adjusted to reflect the extra day this holiday season.
Internet and catalog sales rose 6.5 percent, MasterCard Advisors said, while consumer electronics and appliance store sales were up 6.7 percent. Sales at home furnishing stores increased 3.9 percent. But apparel stores were up only 1.65 percent, department store sales fell 1.4 percent and sales at toy stores declined 7.7 percent.
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