Consumer Behavior

Retail sales climb as consumers go holiday shopping

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December 16, 2021

Consumer holiday shopping in November led to an increase of retail sales for the fourth consecutive month.

The 0.3% increase was a bit lower than October's 1.8% however, according to a New York Times report.

The figures indicate consumers may have been preparing early the holiday season despite the arrival of the COVID-19 variant omicron as well as inflation concerns.

"We saw consumers start to pantry load and think about their holiday shopping earlier than we've ever seen it," Kathy Gramling, consumer industry markets consultant for EY in the Americas, told the Times before the November figures were published. "The great reset for retail will really be sprung in January, where we'll see a tremendous amount of retail regret and we will see a push of returns."