A flurry of post-Christmas bargain shopping in the U.S. helped drive sales higher in the last week of December, according to a report Wednesday from a shopping mall trade group. Increased gift card use, mild weather and a federal holiday on Monday all contributed.
Sales at stores open at least one year rose 5.3% during the week ended Saturday compared with the same period a year ago. That report comes from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, which estimates sales for 24 major stores like Target and Costco.
Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 1.2% for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week, according to the index.
The metric is considered a key gauge of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
As a result of the latest surge, the group increased its December sales growth estimate to a range of 4% to 4.5%. Previously the council expected December sales to rise by 3.5% to 4%.
Major retailers are set to release their final figures for the month on Thursday, but the big concern is how aggressive discounting and other incentives like earlier store openings and free shipping affected merchants’ profits. Stores are expected to offer comments regarding their outlook for fourth-quarter results, which will be released next month.
