Report: Record holiday sales expected

As the calendar winds down toward Christmas, the National Retail Federation has increased its holiday sales forecast, predicting a 3.8 percent rise in sales to a record $469.1 billion.

In October, the retail trade association was anticipating a 2.8 percent rise. While the newest sales prediction increase of 3.8 percent is higher than the 10-year average sales increase of 2.6 percent, it falls behind last year's increase of 5.2 percent compared to 2009, according to a news release.

In its prediction for a record sales year, the NRF cited a 4.5 percent increase in November retail industry sales year-to-year and a recent survey conducted by BIGresearch and published Dec. 14, which found that the average shopper had completed roughly 46.5 percent of their holiday purchases. At the same time last year, that figure was 49.5 percent.

Thanksgiving sales also were promising. According to the NRF, 226 million shopper spent a record $52 billion on purchases during the Black Friday weekend. Cyber Monday sales hit $1.25 billion, 22 percent higher than last year.

“After strong sales reports in October and November, along with a successful Black Friday weekend, retailers are cautiously optimistic that this season will turn out better than initially expected, bringing added stability to our recovering economy at a time when America needs it most,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in the release. “However, a number of factors, including the debt crisis in Europe and continued political wrangling in Washington, could impact consumer spending this holiday season and into 2012.”[[In-content Ad]]