Research >> Economics
ICSC Chain Store Sales rose 1.5% in Dec 7 Wk
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U.S. chain-store sales rose 1.5 percent year on year for the week that ended on December 7, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. However, in a more telling sign of shifting consumer spending trends, week-to-week comparable-store sales slipped 1.6 percent, even with a shortened Christmas spending season.
“The post-Thanksgiving lull once again set in after the frantic pace of shopping during the Thanksgiving week,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist. “Cyber Monday sales (included in the current week’s period) helped lift online business for the retail industry. However with about two and one half weeks remaining in the 2013 holiday shopping season, which according to the ICSC-GS tracking survey, is less than half done (46.7 percent vs. 51 percent in the same week of 2012), consumers may likely select more gift cards to ramp up that completion rate and pre-Christmas weekend shopping is expected to be very busy.”
ICSC Research anticipates that December's chain-store sales will increase between 3 percent and 4 percent. Comparable-store sales rose 2.1 percent in November, missing estimates of an increase between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent, according to ICSC. The weekly chain-store sales snapshot is produced by ICSC and Goldman Sachs to measure U.S. nominal same-store, or comparable-store, sales while excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly sales index is presented on an adjusted basis to account for normal seasonal and other data anomalies.
Posted: December 10, 2013 Tuesday 07:45 AM