Our household outpaced e-commerce spending reported by both Mastercard and the Department of Commerce. Here in sunny Florida, my portion of the sales was 100% e-commerce, with 84% spent at Amazon and 16% at Macys.Com. My wife, a lifelong retailer at Talbots, is the opposite, with 0% online, and the rest split between two shopping malls. Despite 37 years of marriage, we are opposites when it comes to holiday shopping. She likes the buzz of holiday shopping; I avoid malls like the plague and believe I can outshop her with my laptop. Either way, 2019 numbers seem healthy for retail sales and stronger for e-commerce.
Mastercard’s SpendingPulse, a measure of retail spending, indicates e-commerce sales outpaced metrics reported for 3Q19 by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
…holiday retail sales increased 3.4 percent (ex auto) with online sales growing 18.8 percent compared to 2018. Mastercard SpendingPulse provides insights into overall retail spending trends across all payment types, including cash and check.
In the 3Q19 release, the Department of Commerce estimated that e-commerce accounted for 10.5% of total retail sales. In Mastercard’s SpendingPulse, as reported by Chain Store Age, e-commerce “took a bigger piece of the holiday pie this year, making up 14.6% of total retail.
Says Chain Store Age:
It’s looking as if retailers got the happy holiday that they were expecting — despite having six fewer days to complete their shopping.
And, from the Mastercard metrics:
Total Apparel saw a gain, posting 1 percent growth year over year. The category also experienced stronger than expected e-commerce growth, up 17 percent compared to 2018.
The Jewelry sector experienced 1.8 percent growth in total retail sales, with online sales growing 8.8 percent – supporting eCommerce strength. This trend started before the holiday season and helped the sector power through to its finish.
Department stores saw overall sales decline 1.8 percent and online sales growth of 6.9 percent, emphasizing the importance of omnichannel offerings.
Electronics and appliances were up 4.6 percent, while the home furniture and furnishings category grew 1.3 percent.
Part of the shift may be due to holiday timing. With a late Thanksgiving this year:
E-commerce sales hit a record high this year with more people doing their holiday shopping online,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO and chairman of Saks.
Due to a later than usual Thanksgiving holiday, we saw retailers offering omnichannel sales earlier in the season, meeting consumers’ demand for the best deals across all channels and devices.
Strong numbers for 2019. Now comes the next challenge: How will credit card delinquencies prove out as we enter 1Q20? The Federal Reserve reports that the delinquency rate on Credit Cards rose by 10 basis points through 2Q 19, at 2.48%. and with steady growth in revolving debt, now at the cusp of $1.1 trillion, fintech lenders did not bring angst to credit card lenders.
Overview by Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group