Holiday Retail Sales Rise 2.3%
U.S. retail sales increased 2.3% on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, matching predictions of the weakest holiday sales since 2009, Bloomberg News reported.
Sales at stores rose to $12.3 billion during the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a report from the research group ShopperTrak. The company reiterated sales during the holiday season will rise only 2.4%, the smallest gain since the recession, according to Bloomberg.
The number of people who shopped at stores and websites from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday increased 1.4%, according to the National Retail Federation. The average consumer spent $407.02.
Online sales for the first 29 days of the holiday season rose 3.1% from last year to $20.6 billion, according to ComScore Inc.
Sales in November and December account for 20% to 40% of retailers’ annual revenue, according to NRF.
