If you are planning on making a trip to the mall or ordering that hard-to-get item from Amazon, do it sooner rather than later. The National Retail Federation recently released its Holiday 2016 Consumer Survey. The current year projection is a 3.6% increase in sales over the prior year, which is better than the increase of 3.2% in 2015. The past 10 years have averaged sales increases of 2.5%, and since the recession that ended in 2009, the average increase has been 3.4%. This is clearly good news for retailers as they gear up for the all-important holiday season. The forecast uses several different indicators, including available consumer credit, personal income and previous monthly retail sales releases. This uptick is also driving an overall increase in the level of hiring, which may hit 690,000 seasonal workers for the current year. Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation President and CEO, notes that, “All of the fundamentals are in a good place, giving strength to consumers and leading us to believe that this will be a very positive holiday season. This year hasn’t been perfect, starting with a long summer and unseasonably warm fall, but our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and industry expectations.” Hopefully, this will translate into a very happy holiday season for all retailers.
You’ve heard our thoughts… We’d like to hear yours
The Schneider Downs Our Thoughts On blog exists to create a dialogue on issues that are important to organizations and individuals. While we enjoy sharing our ideas and insights, we’re especially interested in what you may have to say. If you have a question or a comment about this article – or any article from the Our Thoughts On blog – we hope you’ll share it with us. After all, a dialogue is an exchange of ideas, and we’d like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
Material discussed is meant for informational purposes only, and it is not to be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, this information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.
This site uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best user experience. Cookies assist in navigation, analyzing traffic and in our marketing efforts as described in our Privacy Policy.