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US shoppers spent heavily during Christmas week, after poor weather the Saturday before Christmas led to pent up demand.
Retail sales increased 8.8% in the week ending December 26 as compared to the same period last year, research firm ShopperTrak said on Wednesday, while retail traffic was down 1%.
Due to poor weather on the Saturday before Christmas, a traditionally crucial shopping day, consumers flocked to stores to make up for lost time. As a result, the day after Christmas - which is usually the third best performing day of the season - vaulted to the no. 2 position this year with $7.9 billion spent, up from $7.8 billion last year. Sales on the Saturday before Christmas, the third best performing day this season, amounted to $6.9 billion.
ShopperTrak co-founder Bill Martin said that pent-up demand following the snow storm on the weekend of December 19 pushed consumers to spend heavily last week.
"Although traffic was slightly off for the week compared to last year, consumers purchased more with fewer trips driving sales and assuredly pushing retailers into the black this holiday season," he said.
Based on last week's performance, ShopperTrak said it expects retail sales to rise 1.6% on year during the Christmas and Hanukkah shopping season.
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