Consumers continue to spend more time and money in their homes

Here’s how US retail sales changed this holiday season. Source: pexels.com

Mastercard has found that holiday retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased 3% this expanded holiday season, running from October 11 through December 24. Notably, online sales grew 49% compared to 2019, the preliminary insights show.

Key findings from Mastercard SpendingPulse underscore the shift to online spending, with e-commerce accounting for 19.7% of overall retail sales – up from nearly 13.4% in 2019.

Home furniture and furnishings experienced the strongest growth of any sector compared to 2019, up 16.2%, and it grew 31% online specifically. In addition, home improvement was up 14.1%, with e-commerce sales up 79.7%.

Meanwhile, apparel experienced a decline of 19.1% year over year, while electronics and appliances were up 6% overall.
Department stores saw an overall sales decline of 10.2% and online sales growth of 3.3%, reinforcing the importance of omnichannel offerings. Buy online, pick up in-store as well as technologies like contactless were key for retailers this season.

We’ve reported that 79% of US shoppers left their holiday shopping at the last minute and plan to finish shopping for relatives within 2 weeks of Christmas.

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