News of Cheerful Holiday Retail Sales

Retail sales rebounded on Monday with consumers taking advantage of discounts. Internet retail sales continue to boom. The after-Christmas week is still young, with retailers hoping to gather momentum with discounts, gift card usage and Hanukah just now gathering steam.

Here’s Tuesday morning’s cheery news according to the WSJ (subscription needed).

"Holiday spending climbed ($$) 8.7% ahead of last year, according to SpendingPulse, a retail-sales data service from MasterCard International's MasterCard Advisors unit. Sales of home furnishings, such as linens and picture frames, were up 15% and consumer-electronic sales, including flat-screen TVs and digital cameras, rose 11%, the data showed."

Retail consultants remind stores to be careful about deep discounting this week. Retailers can find success with how they present prices, not just by cutting them.

In regards to what is hot, the same Journal article charts how home furnishing and electronic consumer goods led the spending growth from last year's numbers. One continuing trend, online commerce continues to boom.

"Online spending continued to explode this year, as retailers offered Web-only discounts and shipped gifts later than ever. Holiday retail sales on the Internet are expected to top predictions of $19.6 billion in sales this year, a figure that is 24% ahead of the $15.8 billion consumers spent online last holiday season, according to market-research firm comScore Networks Inc."