US holiday retail sales stronger than last year with online boost, Mastercard says

(Reuters) -U.S. retail sales rose 3.8% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, as intense promotion to drum up sales in what was expected to be a highly competitive holiday season for retailers prompted last-minute shopping among consumers.

The sales jump was well above a 3.1% increase a year earlier and handily beat Mastercard (NYSE:)’s forecast in September of a 3.2% rise, with the last five days of the season accounting for 10% of all holiday spending.

Major retailers including Walmart (NYSE:), Target (NYSE:) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) ramped up promotions and value messaging to attract customers amid a highly competitive holiday season.

“The holiday shopping season revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value as can be seen by concentrated e-commerce spending during the biggest promotional periods,” said Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute.

Online sales rose at a faster pace of 6.7%, compared with a 6.3% rise last year, with apparel categories seeing strong demand. Low-cost e-commerce rivals Shein and PDD Holding’s Temu all offered attractive Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to lure shoppers.

Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment. It excludes automotive sales.