Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Overall positive economic conditions will propel retail sales online as well as of offline this coming holiday season.   That's according to a report by Forrester, which predicts that U.S. online holiday sales will grow 12% to reach $129 billion in 2017, compared to $115 billion last year. Offline holiday sales will inch up 0.3%, to reach $549 billion in 2017.  

There is good news for retailers in a just-released survey on Halloween spending.   Americans will splurge on costumes, candy and pumpkins for a record $9.1 billion in Halloween spending this year, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That's up 8.3% from last year’s previous record of $8.4 billion.  

An uptick in consumer spending could drive sales as high as $1.05 trillion this holiday season.   Retail holiday sales should rise a healthy 4% to 4.5% over last year's shopping season — a factor that could drive sales between $1.04 trillion and $1.05 trillion between November 2017 and January 2018, according to the annual retail holiday sales forecast from the firm’s retail and distribution practices. (Holiday sales are seasonally adjusted, and exclude motor vehicles and gasoline.)  

School may be back in session, but the back-to-school (BTS) shopping frenzy continues.    And as parents continue to purchase merchandise from newly distributed classroom supply lists, 42% of BTS shoppers expect to spend more this school year compared to 2016, according to new research and insights from Acosta, a sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail merchandising industry.  

Early signs from retailers indicate a hot job market for workers this holiday season.    Despite store closures and consolidation within the industry, retailers are signaling that there might be high demand for seasonal jobs, according to a forecast from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.   

Mobile commerce made the grade this back-to-school season, contributing to a 3% increase in overall e-commerce sales.   This was according to research from retail search marketing company NetElixir. The firm said mobile orders were up by 44%, and revenue was up by 64%. Mobile average order value (AOV) increased by 13%, indicating that consumers are now more comfortable using mobile devices for more expensive purchases.   

With access to more disposable income, Hispanic consumers will up their holiday spending this year — especially through e-commerce.  

Mobile e-commerce sales will account for nearly half of all online commerce in just a couple of years.    This was according to “A Mobile Mindset,” the second volume in the five-part series, “The 2017 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper.” The report, from UPS, is based on input of over 5,189 comScore panelists who made at least two online purchases in a typical three-month period.