Discounts boost US holiday sales

Sales gained in the days after the US Thanksgiving holiday as retailers lured more customers with discounts even as individual shoppers spent less on average.

ShopperTrak RCT Corp reported yesterday an 8.3 percent gain in sales the day after Thanksgiving, a bigger increase than it expected. The National Retail Federation said 147 million customers visited stores, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier, while shoppers spent 3.5 percent less per person.

Both groups left their forecasts for the holiday season unchanged, with the NRF predicting the slowest increase in sales in five years. Customers have cut spending in the face of increased costs for milk and gasoline and the worst housing slump in 16 years, forcing Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Macy's Inc and other retailers to slash prices.

"Shoppers are very mission-focused," said Fred Crawford, managing director for consultant AlixPartners LLP.

Consumer purchases over the Internet rose 29 percent on Thanksgiving Day and 22 percent the day after, Reston, Virginia-based ComScore Inc said. Spending over the Internet may set a single-day record today as people return to work from the holiday weekend, it said.

Shoppers spent an average of $347.44 on purchases from last Thursday through Sunday, the NRF said based on a poll it commissioned from BIGresearch. Consumers chose to buy less-expensive digital-photo frames and cashmere sweaters instead of the high-definition televisions they favored last year, NRF spokesman Scott Krugman said.

"It's the saturation of HD-TVs into the market, and also retailers recognizing that consumers will be more conservative this year and focusing on lower-priced merchandise," he said.

Investor optimism pushed shares of most retailers higher on Friday. Circuit City Stores Inc climbed the most in at least 27 years, helping the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index jump 2.7 percent. Wal-Mart Stores Inc rose 1.9 percent while Target Corp climbed 5.7 percent and Macy's Inc advanced 5.4 percent.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 11/27/2007 page16)