The holiday season looks to be fairly strong, according to a recent forecast by the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Last week, the NRF revealed that U.S. retail sales should grow between 6% and 8% over last year during the tracked holiday season of November/December. That would be the total number somewhere between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. The increase follows last year’s 13.5% year-over-year growth during the same period.
“Despite record levels of inflation, rising interest rates, and low levels of confidence, consumers have been steadfast in their spending and remain in the driver’s seat,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in the November issue of NRF’s Monthly Economic Review. “The latest figures show the economy is holding together better than may have been expected.”
While foot traffic has remained strong at physical retail, the NRF says that online and other “non-store” sales should spike 10% to 12% this season. Still, NRF also believes that last year’s trend of returning to in-store shopping will continue as families seek “a more traditional holiday shopping experience.”
For the toy industry, that’s welcome news as stores are stocked with hot products and some higher inventory levels than in recent years.
