Back to the past in the USA. Good to hear that. Focus on figures about shopping sales, which went on during the latest Christmas holidays, while waiting for the New Year’s Eve. Well, they turned the light on again. Such is the report issued by Master Card, according to which from 1 November till 24 December 2018 money transactions (that is, cash and credit cards payments), for retail shopping, considerably increased by 5,1% (850 billion dollars), therefore achieving the best accomplishment over the last six years. Compared to 2017, online shopping went up by slightly more than 19%. Sales were mostly driven by household products (+9%), then apparel and footwear, which increased by 7,9%, compared to the previous year (the best performance ever, since 2010). Department stores did not benefit that much from it, since their overall turnover dropped by 1,3%, though their online sales augmented by over 10%. Steve Sadove, Mastercard senior advisor and former chief executive officer at Saks, claims that “retail sales were able to balance stocks, as they successfully gauged online and in-store items; many retailers succeeded in supplying what customers were demanding for, through proper commercial platforms”. Figures mentioned above are considered comforting, especially taking into consideration the weather appalling conditions, which crippled several States in the middle of December. In contrast to that, in the United Kingdom Christmas shopping did not go well at all: in fact, in the last month of the year in-store sales decreased by 1,9%, which has been the worst performance since 2006. Sophie Michael, analyst at BDO, pointed out that “clients have been extremely cautious and purchased a lot in the internet, while looking for discounts and prices off rather than visiting shops”.
Christmas retail: in the USA they turn the light on again to boost footwear sales. Lights out in London, where “just on sale goods are sold”
