Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Christmas Eve may only be a mere three days away, however 20% of adults plan to shop for holiday gifts or holiday-related items that day.   That’s according to “The 2016 ICSC Super Saturday study,” which was conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) from December 8-11, 2016. The survey comprises responses from 1,025 adults of 18 years of age and older.  

With only days to go in the 2016 holiday shopping season, online desktop spending continues to rise.   For the holiday season-to-date, $55.2 billion has been spent online, marking a 13% increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week, Dec. 12-18, posted a strong 15% growth in online sales, marking $7.6 billion in desktop spending during the last full week before Christmas.  

The wealthiest segment of the U.S. population is cutting back a little this holiday season.      

CBL announced it has closed on a sale of three Tier 3 malls to Hull Property Group for a price of $32.25 million. Changing hands are the Randolph Mall in Asheboro, North Carolina, and the Regency Mall in Racine, Wisconsin.    The identity of the third property was not disclosed.  

A vast majority of Americans now buy online, but that doesn’t mean it is their favorite way to shop.    Approximately eight-in-ten Americans are now online shoppers: 79% have made an online purchase of any type, while 51% have bought something using a cellphone and 15% have made purchases by following a link from social media sites, according to the Pew Research Center.  

The biggest shopping day of the year is approaching, and shoppers are ready — almost 156 million, to be exact.    On Saturday, Dec. 17, 66% of Americans – an estimated 155.7 million people –plan to or are considering taking advantage of Super Saturday sales to complete their holiday gift list, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey, which asked 6,890 consumers about their holiday shopping plans, was conducted Dec. 1 - 7.

A mixed bag of activity for the second week of December indicates that weekends — and perfectly timed promotions — will make or break the remainder of holiday e-commerce sales.  

Neiman Marcus Group doubled its loss in its first quarter amid sliding sales.   The luxury department store retailer posted a net loss of $23.5 million in its first quarter, ended Oct. 29, compared to a loss of $10.5 million in the year-ago period.    Sales fell 7.4% to $1.08 billion, from $1.16 billion last year.   Same-store sales fell 8%. It was the fifth straight quarter of decline.