Data point to firm seasonal sales growth
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Record purchases of gift tokens and online presents drove up preliminary consumer spending estimates in the US on Monday but clouded attempts to predict retail store sales.
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The Consumer Electronics Association predicts solid growth in gadget sales this year.
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Retail sales, helped by sizzling activity in auto showrooms, jumped by 1.2 percent in December, providing a solid finish to a year in which sales climbed at the fastest pace since 1999. The increase pushed total spending for the month to a seasonally adjusted $349.4 billion, the Commerce Department said.
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hoAs the holiday season wound down, U.S. residents kept on shopping significantly more than they did in 2006, particularly on the day after Christmas, but they also reported being less satisfied with e-tailers, according to a pair of studies.Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 27 -- the first 57 days of the holiday season -- U.S. shoppers spent almost $28 billion in online retail purchases, up 19 percent compared with the same period in 2006, according to comScore.Shoppers spent $545 million on Dec. 26, more than doubling the spending on that day in 2006, as they took advantage of late-season offers and discounts, according to comScore.Still, it looks like online spending growth for the 2007 holiday season will fail to meet comScore&#39;s 20 percent forecast, and fall way below the 26 percent growth registered during this period in 2006.comScore chalks up the smaller-than-expected growth to several factors, including warm weather in early November and various economic challenges this year, including higher gas prices, the real estate crunch, and a &quot;jittery&quot; stock market, the company said Sunday.Another important metric that dropped this holiday season compared with 2006&#39;s was customer satisfaction, according to ForeSee Results, a provider of online customer-satisfaction measurement services.A survey of more than 11,000 shoppers revealed that, on a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with the largest 40 e-tailers dropped, in aggregate, to 74 points, down 1.3 points from the 2006 holiday season, according to ForeSee. It conducted the survey in conjunction with FGI Research using the methodology of the University of Michigan&#8217;s American Customer Satisfaction Index.Still, the spending growth in online shopping this holiday season, even at 19 percent, would greatly outpace the growth of overall U.S. retail holiday spending, forecast at 4 percent by the National Retail Federation.That 4 percent growth rate -- which would put 2007 holiday season retail spending in the United States at almost $475 billion -- would fall below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent and be the slowest since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation.
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Sales were up 5.1 percent from the previous season, according to NPD. Popular buys included digital cameras and plasma TVs.
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Business & money: Sales back into positive territory after double-digit decline suffered earlier this year.
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U.S. data shows slightly stronger-than-expected growth but also pricing pressures.
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Existing home sales in the United States increased 2.7 percent in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate to an all-time monthly high of 6.94 million units, the National
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Makes solid gains in 'seasonally weaker quarter'
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Supermarket Sainsbury's reports a modest rise in sales over the Christmas period, in line with forecasts.
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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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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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While they're still a sliver of overall U.S. retail sales, retail online sales continued to rise in the second quarter of the year to $15.7 billion, according to figures released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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Post-holiday discounts and shoppers  redeeming gift cards helped boost retail sales 14 percent for  the last full week of December, according to data released on  Wednesday.
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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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By Richard Mullins, Tampa Tribune, Fla.  Mar. 9--TAMPA -- Tech Data Corp. posted record quarterly and yearly sales Thursday and showed signs of progress amid a broad corporate overhaul.
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The outlook for the holiday season brightened Thursday as many of the nation&#39;s retailers reported an improvement in sales in October.