Two leading forecasts on U.S. holiday shopping say sales will reach the $1 trillion mark during the season.
The strong results should come as “consumer purchasing power remains strong, goods experience deflation, interest rates begin to ease, and the labor market remains robust,” wrote Jitender Miglani, principal forecast analyst for business research and consulting firm Forrester.
Miglani predicted sales will rise 3.7% over last year, to around $1 trillion. That rate of increase would beat the pre-pandemic average.
EMarketer had an even more optimistic forecast, putting holiday sales at almost $1.4 trillion, a 4.8% jump from 2023.
Miglani said online sales would rise 10.1%—a slower rate than in pre-pandemic years—to $257 billion. EMarketer estimated that holiday-season e-commerce will grow 9.5%, to $266.89 billion.
But a vast majority of sales (80%) will be conducted offline, the research organization said; EMarketer projected they will grow 3.7%, to $1.1 trillion.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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