Holiday Sales Expected to Rise Slightly
The National Retail Federation said Oct. 3, it expects holiday sales in November and December to increase 3.9% to $602.1 billion.
The expected rise is above the 10-year average holiday sales growth of 3.3%.
“Our forecast is a realistic look at where we are right now in this economy – balancing continued uncertainty in Washington and an economy that has been teetering on incremental growth for years,” NRF CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
“Overall, retailers are optimistic for the 2013 holiday season, hoping political debates over government spending and the debt ceiling do not erase any economic progress we’ve already made,” he said.
While overall sales are expected to rise marginally, online sales are forecast to increase 13%-15% to as much as $82 billion, a study by NRF showed.
According to NRF, the holiday season accounts for about 20% of total industry annual sales.
