As it is now mid-October, retailers are currently gearing up for the impending holiday sales surge that they will all be facing very soon. With the holiday season almost upon us, the National Retail Federation announced on Thursday that its expecting sales to increase 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion in November and December, which is down slightly from last years increase of 41 percent over 2013. Not surprisingly, online sales are expected, once again, to increase anywhere between 6 to 8 percent to as much as $105 billion.
It’s been estimated by the NRF that the holiday sales are going to account for approximately 19 percent of the retail industry’s total annual sales of $3.2 trillion. The things that the estimates exclude are autos, gas and restaurant sales.
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said:
“With several months of solid retail sales behind us, we’re heading into the all-important holiday season fully expecting to see healthy growth. We expect families to spend prudently and deliberately, though still less constrained than what we saw even two years ago.”
Shay also said:
“Price, value and even timing will all play a role in how, when, where and why people shop over the holiday season. Retailers will be competitive not only on price, but on digital initiatives, store hours, product offerings and much more.”
Some of the things that is taken into account for the NRF holiday sales forecast are indicators, such as consumer credit, disposable personal income and previous monthly retail sales release. Forecasts are including even non-store category items, which cover direct-to-consumer, kiosks and online sales.