Holiday retail sales for 2013 are weaker than they look

What do you get when you combine bad weather, fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and shoppers with an overall “meh” attitude? The perfect storm for lackluster holiday sales, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
 
Holiday sales increased 2.3 percent compared to last year, according to the article. But that modest uptick was the result of deep discounts offered in an attempt to entice shoppers to buy more, which offset any gains retailers might have made.
 
Last-minute discounts offered by retailers, coupled with inclement weather, caught some shippers off guard and they weren’t able to keep their delivery promises. To assuage disgruntled shoppers, some retailers refunded shipping charges or offered gift cards and more discounts – which only further cut into a weak profit margin.

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