Brisk Holiday Sales in U.S. and Canada (Dec. 9, 2013)
Year-over-year retail sales have been brisk between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday in the U.S. and Canada, according to payment processors First Data Corp. and Moneris Solutions Corp.
Dollar volume growth during Thanksgiving and Black Friday increased 9 percent year over year, compared with last year’s growth of 5.6 percent, according to Atlanta-based First Data and its SpendTrend analysis, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations. Although the released data didn’t include a breakdown by card type, First Data found that most of the retail spending growth was driven by shopping on Thanksgiving as opposed to Black Friday.
“In addition to promotions and early openings, we saw many retailers make it even easier for consumers to shop by providing a seamless integration of in-store, online and mobile initiatives that allowed shoppers to buy products wherever and whenever,” said Krish Mantripragada, First Data’s senior vice president, information and analytics solutions.
In Canada, Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending jumped 19.2 percent and 29.3 percent, respectively, compared with last year, according to Toronto-based Moneris. The Monday following Thanksgiving has come to be known as Cyber Monday because it is the biggest day for online sales. These two shopping days, which are popular in the U.S., are gaining traction in Canada, where the tradition is still relatively new, according to Moneris.
