Depending on which analysis Wall St. reads, Thanksgiving weekend retail sales were great. Or, they were as expected. Or, they might have been poor. The entire matte points out the problem of getting a quick handle on the US economy at any point in time, especially if the data is being viewed through different lenses.
Numbers from comScore showed e-commerce sales up well over 20% for the Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This would put them well ahead of the pace for earlier in the month and would lead investors to believe that buyers are flocking to online sites to buy holiday gifts. Over just two days, online purchases totaled almost $800 million.
The Wall Street Journal says that "according to the National Retail Federation, 48.3 million people went shopping Saturday, down slightly from 49.1 million last year." The association still thinks holiday sales will only by up 4% this year, which would be well below the last four years.
Over at ShopperTrak which tracks traffic at tens of thousands of stores, data indicate that sales moved up 8.3% over the two-day holiday. In a note picked up by Reuters, Davy Research said in a note: "These data make it unlikely that consumer spending contracted quarter-on-quarter in Q4 and set a positive tone for equities this week."
A report in The New York Times says "shoppers did not splurge, spending an estimated $348 each over the holiday weekend, down from $360 last year, a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation found."
The Thanksgiving weekend was good, bad, and indifferent for US retailers. Take your pick.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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