NRF

Retailers were effective at getting a record number of Americans to visit stores and Web sites over the weekend, but persuading them to spend money was a different story, according to data released by the National Retail Federation Sunday afternoon.

Strong retail sales in the month of October point to a good holiday sales season ahead. According to the National Retail Federation, October retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, increased 2.5% seasonally adjusted over September, and 4.2% unadjusted from 2012.

In a broader view, October retail sales released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, which include non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants, increased 0.4% seasonally adjusted month-to-month, and 3.9% adjusted year-over-year.

New research from the National Retail Federation sheds light on how 140 million Americans plan to shop during the Thanksgiving weekend.

According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation, Black Friday will be the biggest day of the weekend: 69.1% plan to shop on Black Friday, or approximately 97 million shoppers.

Washington, D.C. – Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports grew 6.5% in October over the same month last year despite the government shutdown, and year-over-year increases are expected to continue for the remainder of the year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 37,600 in October 2013, and 295,000 year-over-year, a 2.4% increase from 2012. Job gains were seen in every retail sector with the exception of clothing and clothing stores, which witnessed a contraction of 12,500 positions in September.

In its annual holiday sales and employment forecast, NRF predicted that retailers would see a 3.9% increase in sales and hire an additional 720,000 to 780,000 employees this holiday season.

Greg Saputo has spent a career in retail loss prevention and in the latest installment of the National Retail Federation’s video series, “This Is Retail,” he reflects on the first time he caught a shoplifter.

The retail industry couldn’t function if it weren’t for the efforts of store managers at the front lines of running the day-to-day business, executing corporate strategies, managing people and serving customers.