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MONTREAL (Reuters) - U.S. retailers posted a better performance during the 2009 holiday shopping season, with sales as tracked by MasterCard Advisors unit SpendingPulse up 3.6 percent.
Yup, it's a modest uptick - but it IS an uptick. Coming out of the worst recession in decades (and with unemployment still very high) it's a pretty good sign that people are no longer quite so panicked as they were and a sense of normalcy is starting to return to retail. As hiring picks up in the spring (and the job losses of the last couple of years turn into job gains) folks will lose that residual fear and retail will pick up even more. I suspect next Christmas will likely be a banner year.
The numbers are from a company which tracks MasterCard
And purchases using MasterCard represents a huge percentange of holiday sales, so their numbers should be pretty accurate.
In retail, initial daily retail sales numbers are known the very next day.
Adjusted sales numbers (after sales audits are done to certain individual transactions) are available within several days of the sales day.
So these initial next day sales numbers should be pretty close to the final number.
Mastercard, which does not include Visa, Amex, Discovery, cash, debit etc... Just because one credit card usage is up, doesnt mean others are also up..
If retailers sales were up there profits were most likely down as they had to slash prices to draw people in. The mom and pop stores can't slash prices like the big boys. They are the ones who will feel the grunt of lower consumer spending.
Mastercard, which does not include Visa, Amex, Discovery, cash, debit etc... Just because one credit card usage is up, doesnt mean others are also up..
I agree.
Especially since more shoppers than ever (or in many years)....paid for their gifts with CASH this year.
Besides that, retailers still had to entice shoppers with huge discounts, they tightened their inventory, expecting a dismal shopping season......and sales figures from THEM have yet to be released.
WHO cares what ONE CC company says?
Mastercard, which does not include Visa, Amex, Discovery, cash, debit etc... Just because one credit card usage is up, doesnt mean others are also up..
Why would those other credit card users be any different from Mastercard users?
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