Mixed signals

Firms tracking consumer spending this holiday season are reporting mixed signals. With five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, analysts expect slower holiday sales growth in the US this year. According to the Mastercard SpendingPulse, Black Friday sales rose 3.4% year on year with online sales up 14.6% and in-store sales rising less than 1%. Notably, data from ShopperTrak found that in-store foot traffic in the US on Black Friday fell 8.2% year-on-year. Meanwhile, data from Adobe Digital shows that in the US Black Friday online sales growth accelerated to 10.2% year-on-year versus the 7.5% growth the firm reported last year. Although Adobe revised up their estimate for Cyber Monday sales to 9% growth, that figures compares to last year's 9.6% growth rate. On a global basis, Salesforce estimates that Black Friday sales rose 5% year-on-year reaching USD 74.4 billion.

Source: Adobe Digital, November 2024