Between November 1 and December 24, U.S. retail sales grew 8.5% year-over-year and 10.7% year-over-year. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal with reference to a study by Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks sales of Mastercard cards. According to experts, this is the most significant increase in sales over this period over the past 17 years. The scores took into account consumer purchases in convenience stores, online, and restaurant spending.
Shoppers returned to brick-and-mortar stores, with sales up 8.1% from 2020 and 2.4% from 2019, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse survey data. Consumers were especially active in purchasing clothes in such stores, sales of which increased by 47% compared to 2020. Jewelry sales were up 32% and electronics sales were up 16% compared to 2020. Online sales are up 11% over 2020 and 61% over 2019. At the same time, the buyers were not repelled even by the prices that increased over the year. Mastercard experts explain this by the fact that during the period of the pandemic, consumers have accumulated savings.
Sales were also boosted by the fact that the holiday sales season had started earlier, given the anticipated supply disruptions. In addition, FedEx, UPS and the US Postal Service proactively increased the number of sorting centers and delivered packages on time 91.2%, 97.1% and 96.9%, respectively.
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