Holiday Retail Sales Rose 3%
16 January 2016 - 2:40AM
Dow Jones News
Retail sales for the holiday period increased 3%, less than the
3.7% the National Retail Federation had predicted, according to the
trade group.
The growth is the slowest since 2013, when sales in the year-end
period rose 2.7%. It is also far short of last year's results, when
sales rose 4.1%.
This season was marked by challenges for retailers, including
unusually warm weather that damped demand for winter apparel and
other gear and a slowdown in spending by foreign tourists due to
the strong dollar. Stores also had to contend with falling traffic
at their brick-and-mortar locations and surging sales online.
The NRF said e-commerce sales increased 9% to $105 billion, more
than the 6% to 8% growth it had predicted.
Some retailers have already reported that their sales for the
period fell well short of expectations. Macy's Inc. warned of its
worst holiday sales since 2008 and said it would cut thousands of
jobs. It blamed the shortfall on the warm weather. Gap Inc. said
December sales fell 5% from the year earlier.
Several large retailers have yet to report their results,
including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Wal-Mart said
Friday it planned to close 154 stores in the U.S., part of a
broader plan to close 269 stores around the world.
But not all retailers had a tough holiday. L Brands Inc., owner
of mall stalwarts such as Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body
Works, posted an 8% jump in sales at existing locations, and said
last month was its "best December ever."
Write to Suzanne Kapner at Suzanne.Kapner@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 15, 2016 10:25 ET (15:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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