When consumers start holiday shopping

JULY 8 I NRF I RESEARCH
National Retail Federation Teases Holiday Fact From Fiction

The National Retail Federation released a report in early June that compared media reports and overall perceptions about the the 2013 holiday selling season with research and data collected before, during and after the season. The report points to a number of misconceptions, including the final impact of the harsh weather, government shutdown and shorter-than-average time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Overall, holiday sales increased 3.8 percent over 2012, and e-commerce sales in Q4 were $9.5 billion higher than in the same quarter of 2012.

The report also includes data that's useful for planning for the 2014 season. For the first time since pre-recession 2004, more consumers started shopping before October 1 than after December 1. Baby boomers started shopping the latest, as more than one in six didn't start shopping before December 1. The NRF points to the government shutdown in late 2013 as possibly shaking the boomers' consumer confidence more than other generations.

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