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October 28, 2024 • Issue 24:10:02

Optimism abounds in holiday

shopping predictions

Big bucks will be spent online

Here in the United States, a primary contributor to over-
all retail sales growth is expected to be online shopping,
the NRF said. Online and other non-store sales, which are
included in NRF's predicted sales total, are expected to in-
crease between 8 percent and 9 percent to total between
$295.1 billion and $297.9 billion.

That's up from $273.3 billion in online and other non-brick-
and-mortar sales last year. By way of comparison, non-store
sales last year rose 10.7 percent over 2022.

Adobe Analytics predicted somewhat lower online sales,
although it still expects record spend. U.S. online sales will
By Patti Murphy hit $240.8 billion this holiday shopping season, Adobe said,
representing 8.4 percent growth year-over-year. In the 2023
year-end shopping season, consumers spent $221.8 billion
t doesn't matter which predictions you turn to; online, which worked out to 4.9 percent YoY growth.
all indicators point to healthy consumer spending
for the winter holiday season. The National Retail Shopping on mobile devices is expected to hit a new mile-
I Federation forecasted that winter holiday spending stone, contributing a record $128.1 billion to total spending
will grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent over 2023. and growing 12.8 percent YoY. This would represent a 53.2
That equates to between $979.5 billion and $989 billion in percent share of online spending this season (versus desk-
total consumer spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024. top shopping), Adobe said.

"The economy remains fundamentally healthy and con- During the 2021 holiday season, 43 percent of online sales
tinues to maintain its momentum heading into the final were driven by mobile devices, a modest increase from
months of the year," said Matthew Shay, NRF president
and CEO. "The winter holidays are an important tradi-
tion to American families, and their capacity to spend will
continue to be supported by a strong job market and wage Contributed articles inside by:
growth."
Allen Kopelman .....................................................................................16
Mastercard Economics Institute forecasted a 3.2 percent Leo Arzumanyan ...................................................................................24
increase, excluding automotive sales, in total U.S. spend-
ing from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, compared to 2023, when holiday Kamran Hedijri .......................................................................................26
sales rose 3.1 percent. ACI Worldwide, meanwhile, predict- Peter Karpas ...........................................................................................28
ed that holiday spending worldwide will rise 16 percent in
value from Oct. 1 through Dec. 21, compared to the same
period last year.

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