Research >> Economics
ICSC Chain Store Sales soared 4.3% in Dec 15 Wk
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The ICSC‐Goldman Sachs (ICSC‐GS) chain store sales index for the week ending December 15 soared by 4.3% from the prior week, which launched the second wave of the 2012 holiday‐shopping season. The surge followed the spending holiday lull over the two weeks after Thanksgiving. The ICSC‐GS consumer tracking survey found very strong year‐over‐year gains at drug stores, wholesale clubs and office supply stores. Online purchases were strong too. Moderate gains were seen at department stores, discounters and dollar stores.
Despite the markedly robust pickup in sales during the past week, the consumers’ holiday‐gift completion rate (as tracked by the ICSC‐GS survey) still was behind the prior year’s pace with the average completion rate (inclusion of those who have not begun to shop) rising to 64.9% (up from 51%) in the latest week compared with a much higher rate of 70.3% for the same week of the prior year. But with fewer and fewer days left before Christmas Day, consumers will likely be out in force this upcoming weekend to complete their gift buying. The ICSC‐GS holiday survey found that 17% of consumers reported that they had totally completed their holiday‐gift purchases, while 12% of consumers had not started yet.
According to Weather Trends, Inc. (WTI) the U.S. average nationwide temperature was a modest 0.5°F warmer than last year and 3.7°F above normal. WTI observed that during the past week ending Saturday that: “The week began with a blizzard in the Plains and western Great Lakes that brought up to 16 inches of snow around Minneapolis. Behind the storm, cold air plunged as far south as Texas with the season's first measurable snow in Dallas and single digit temperatures across the Panhandle. The sharp change to colder weather will have resulted in a large surge in winter category demand in the heartland.”
Gasoline prices eased again in the latest week, which further added to the consumer’s discretionary purchasing power. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. average price of a gallon of regular‐grade gasoline at the pump was $3.254 on December 17, 2012‐‐which fell by 9.5 cents over the past week and was i ts lowest since December 19, 2011 ($3.229).
Posted: December 18, 2012 Tuesday 07:45 AM