Sales down compared to 2015.
This year’s annual holiday sales lull is looking much greater than the lull in 2015, and deep discounting may be a big reason. Retailers are now scrambling to measure up or beat last year’s results before the end of the year.
According to The NPD Group’s weekly point-of-sale results for key general merchandise categories across in-store and online channels, dollar sales in the sixth week of the 2016 holiday shopping season were 5% lower than the same week in 2015. Cumulatively, dollar sales in the first six weeks of the 2016 holiday shopping season were 4% behind the first six weeks of the 2015 holiday season.
Overall Performance
Dollar sales in the sixth week of Holiday 2016 were 5% lower than the sixth week Holiday 2015.
Apparel was the only industry to outperform the same week last year, but was only up 1%.
Toys saw their steepest declines of the season so far, down 9% compared to the same week in 2015.
Week Ending December 10, 2016*
Top Performing Categories
Women’s Outerwear
PC’s/Notebooks
Home Automation
Men’s Outerwear
Stereo Headphones
“The holiday lull of week six is deeper than retailers want, but they drove it with deeper and deeper discounts. This year’s trend clearly demonstrates how extreme promotions, now most noticeable in toys and electronics, are steering retail off the path of growth,” said NPD’s Chief Industry Analyst, Marshal Cohen. “As we pass the shipping deadline, brick-and-mortar will recapture some of what online continues to steal, doing so by emphasizing online shopping with in-store pick-up. Colder weather across the country also changes the equation, starting with an awakening for outerwear sales. In this final holiday push, we will begin to see new factors, beyond promotion, impacting holiday sales.”
* Information is collected from a panel of leading retailers that provide weekly point-of-sale data covering in-store and online sales of Apparel, Toys, Technology, Athletic Footwear, and Prestige Fragrances.