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Retailers, online and off, enjoy robust holiday shopping experiences

The retail holiday sweet spot was furniture purchases as consumers were in a jolly mood to shop, with overall spending jumping 7.9 percent over last year and online shopping increasing by 20 percent.

December 29, 2015

The retail holiday sweet spot was furniture purchases as consumers were in a jolly mood to shop, with overall spending jumping 7.9 percent over last year and online shopping increasing by 20 percent.

"The double-digit growth in furniture sales ... shows consumers are willing and able to splurge on big ticket items," Sarah Quinlan, senior VP of market insights at MasterCard Advisors, stated in a newly-released MasterCard SpendingPulse report, according to NBC News.

Brick-and-mortars remain the big winners in terms of shopping location, athough online retail sales could soon outpace the physical store sector given gains this holiday season, according to the MasterCard report.

One reason for the robust sales activity may be tied to the timeframe of the holiday this year, according to another industry watcher, as Christmas ran right into a weekend having fallen on a Friday this year.

"While some of this is calendar-centric — because Christmas fell on a Friday and people had the entire weekend to shop — some of this trend is related to the flattening out of the season overall," Becky Ziegler, VP at SBC Advertising, told the Columbus Dispatch. "Today's consumer likes to shop when they want and where they want rather than be forced into shopping on specific days," she said. "This applies to post-holiday shopping as well. Consumers have gift cards to use, returns to exchange, and they like to do that when it is most convenient for them."

Between Black Friday and Christmas Eve furniture another big consumer focus was women's clothing though men's apparel sales dipped. The warmer than usual weather for most of the country impacted clothing sales, however, specifically coats and boots.