Women's apparel, furniture sales lead 7.9% rise in US holiday retail sales: MasterCard

The US retails sales grew significantly by 7.9 percent this holiday season. Mostly women's apparel and furniture sales boosted the overall retail sales volume this holiday season of 2015. Online sales recorded a robust growth of 20 percent this year.

MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, which tracks consumer spending, has revealed that the US retails excluding automobiles and gas, grew 5.5 percent during the period from Black Friday and Christmas Eve in 2014.

Reuters reports that though women's apparel sales rose encouragingly, the delay in onset of cold weather reduced the demand for apparel. The drop in gasoline prices is also propelling retail sales volume moving up. Consumers are willing to spend the money saved on gasoline during this holiday season.

Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of Market Insights at MasterCard Advisors, said in the report that "the double-digit growth in furniture sales shows that consumers are willing and able to splurge on big ticket items. The delay in onset of cold weather pushed back apparel buying this fall, so there was pent-up demand that played out after Black Friday."

MasterCard SpendingPulse regularly comes out with reports on national US retail sales across all types of payments. The findings are based on total sales volume in the MasterCard payments network. It also included survey-based estimates for other modes of payment such as cash and check.

The National Retail Federation forecasts 3.7 percent rise in store and online sales in November and December 2015. It's also predicted that online sales would rise in the range of 6-8 percent, as reported by CNBC.

Sarah Quinlan, SVP, Market Insights for MasterCard Advisors, said: "After a slow start, I'm very happy to see that the holiday season was hot for retailers. We saw some very promising trends. The double-digit growth in furniture sales, for instance, shows that consumers are willing and able to splurge on big ticket items. e-Commerce's rise is a solid indication of an empowered and savvy shopper. We'll be watching to see if this behavior continues into 2016."

MasterCard SpendingPulise keeps tracking the trends in retail sales including cards, cash and checks. According to MasterCard, electronics and men's apparel sales were lagging this holiday season. It's estimated that 70 percent of the US consumers do more research online.

In overall, the apparel segment witnessed single-digit growth rate in retail sales during this holiday season. Overall retail sales excluding automobile and gasoline, grew 4.6 percent in December when compared with November sales volume.

MasterCard is also facilitating its customers with Samsung Pay. Consumers from New York to California can leverage the secure mobile payment option this holiday season. Many new banks and credit unions are live with Samsung Pay, according to MasterCard.