On the pulse

“American consumers turned the holiday season on its head, redefining ‘home for the holidays’ in a uniquely 2020 way. They shopped from home for the home, leading to record e-commerce growth,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO and Chairman of Saks Incorporated. “And, consumers shopped earlier than ever before. Across our expanded 75-day holiday shopping season, sales were up 3.0 per cent, a testament to the holiday season and strength of retailers and consumers alike.”

Key findings from Mastercard SpendingPulse underscore the shift to online spending, with e-commerce accounting for 19.7 per cent of overall retail sales – up from approximately 13.4 per cent in 2019. In addition, consumers continue to spend more time – and money – on their homes – home furniture and furnishings experienced the strongest growth of any sector compared to 2019, up 16.2 per cent, and it grew 31.0 per cent online specifically. In addition, home improvement was up 14.1 per cent, with e-commerce sales up 79.7 per cent.

Department stores saw overall sales decline of 10.2 per cent and online sales growth of 3.3 per cent, reinforcing the importance of omnichannel offerings. Buy online, pick up in store as well as technologies like contactless were key for retailers this season.