Capital Business Credit: Holiday season will experience moderate growth

New York -- Despite a number of economic factors that have shaken consumer confidence lately, including the government shutdown and continued high unemployment rates, retailers and manufacturers believe holiday sales will rise slightly compared to last year, according to Capital Business Credit, a non-bank lender that services the retail sector.



According to the quarterly Global Retail Manufacturers and Importers Survey, 77% of importers of retail goods believe that the winter/holiday season will be the same or slightly stronger than last year, up 3% from their predictions in 2012.



Of those who believe that it will be stronger, majority third of respondents estimate that sales will increase by approximately 3% when compared to last year. Nearly half of respondents (48.9%) cited that their retail customers ordered more this holiday season than last year.



Only 26% of manufactures indicated that they were negatively affected by the government shutdown, citing that some orders were put on hold. While only a minority was impacted by the shutdown, 50% still worry that the shutdown may affect holiday retail sales as it shook consumer confidence.



“An uptick in orders does not necessarily mean that we are in for a robust holiday season, as consumers remain reticent to open their wallets due to macro-economic factors,” said Andrew Tananbaum, executive chairman, CBC. “While the season may not be gangbusters, it won’t be negative either. In our opinion, holiday sales will moderately increase year-over-year.”