Holiday sales growth about half of last year: report
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Shoe sales have jumped this holiday season, but they haven't been enough to kick up holiday sales growth overall, according to a MasterCard Advisors survey.
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U.S. shoppers are starting to get into  the holiday spirit, with indices on Tuesday showing sales  picking up with only 10 shopping days until Christmas.
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U.S. chain store retail sales rose in the latest week as a holiday weekend gave Americans more time to shop, a report said on Tuesday.
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U.S. chain store sales rose in the  second week of October compared with last year, as seasonal  shopping drove sales during the second week of the month, a  report said on Tuesday.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc  on  Thursday reported a 2.4 percent rise in December sales at U.S.  stores open at least a year, helped by strong sales of food.
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U.S. retailers were on track to post  solid -- but not spectacular -- sales this holiday after a  last-minute dash to stores saved Christmas, according to retail  indices on Tuesday.
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Holiday shoppers gravitated toward the Internet in big numbers late last year, with online retailers reaping some US&#36;23 billion from U.S. consumers. That figure marks a 25 percent increase from the &#36;18.5 billion spent online during the same period in 2003.
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U.S. chain store sales increased  slightly in the latest week, due in part to Labor Day sales and  back-to-school shopping, a report said on Tuesday.
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U.S. business inventories rose  slightly more than expected in November while sales growth  eased, Commerce Department data showed on Friday.
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U.S. retailers are starting their  holiday Internet marketing campaigns earlier this year, rolling  out promotions as much as two months before Christmas,  according to a study to be released on Wednesday.
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Americans spent more in stores at the start of holiday shopping than a year ago, according to figures released on Saturday, but retailers&#39; hopes for the key season
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Sales of semiconductors in November indicate that consumer products such as LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, digital music players, and other devices sold well during the holidays, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Monday.November chip sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to $23.1 billion, the SIA said.Unit demand has far outpaced last year. But falling chip prices have hurt industry revenue, the chip association said. For example, DRAM (dynamic RAM) bit shipments grew 25 percent in the three months through mid-December, but average selling prices have declined 20 percent over the same period.The association also noted that rising energy prices and concerns about the sub-prime lending issue in the U.S. do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending for the holidays, the SIA said. The group reiterated its forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach a new record in 2007. But it will take a stronger than expected December selling season to reach the 3.8 percent growth goal the group had&#160;forecast earlier this year, the SIA said.Investment banking firm Credit Suisse was not as optimistic as the SIA.The November data was below normal seasonal trends, noted analyst John Pitzer, in a report on Monday. Even if December reaches its normal seasonal growth, 2007 industry revenue will only reach $255.7 billion, up 3.2 percent over last year. The growth percentage would fall short of the SIA&#39;s 3.8 percent target.The slow November prompted Credit Suisse to lower its 2008 chip industry revenue forecast to 9.4 percent year-on-year growth, down from a previous target of 13 percent.
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U.S. retail sales increased by 0.1 percent in November, the Commerce Department said on Monday, slightly stronger than expectations, while the previous month was revised sharply higher.
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In fact, more than half of people in a recent survey (51 percent) said they&#39;d done holiday gift shopping while on vacation, spending an average of $2,000.
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US retailers holiday gift-card sales may have risen to more than $20 billion, topping forecasts and boosting after-Christmas shopping at stores after a lackluster holiday season.
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U.S. chain store retail sales rose in  the latest week after sizable back-to-back declines, as  consumers took to the stores for holiday shopping, a retail  report said on Tuesday.
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UK internet sales rose by 50% in the run up to Christmas, compared with a year earlier, a survey says.