Retailers report strong sales for November

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Shoppers load bags of Black Friday deals into a car at Bel Air Mall in Mobile, Ala. Retailers are reporting strong sales gains in November, boosted by a discount-fueled spending binge for the start of the holiday shopping season last weekend. | AP file

Updated: January 3, 2012 9:23AM

Retailers reported strong sales gains in November, boosted by a discount-fueled buying binge for the start of the holiday shopping season last weekend. Now, the challenge is to keep shoppers spending throughout the most important selling period of the year.

Several retailers including Macy’s Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Limited Brands Inc. and teen retailer Buckle Inc. reported sales gains Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates.

The reports are encouraging news for retailers during the all-important holiday shopping season when they can make up to 40 percent of their revenue. To draw people into stores during the kickoff to the season last weekend, many retailers discounted heavily and opened stores at midnight on Thanksgiving evening.

“Retailers pulled out all the stops over Black Friday, which fueled record holiday weekend sales and drove solid November growth,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a research firm. “That sets up well for the remainder of the season. But the next two weeks are critical. You don’t want to lose the momentum.”

That retailers had a healthy start to the holiday season despite a weak economy is encouraging: Americans spent $52.4 billion over the four-day Thanksgiving Day weekend, the highest total ever recorded during the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. But a strong finish to the season will be crucial, and analysts agree that retailers will have to offer ever bigger discounts in order to keep shoppers coming back.

In addition, online shoppers spent record amounts on the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, $1.25 billion, up 22 percent from a year ago, making it the biggest online shopping day in history, according to research firm comScore Inc. IBM Benchmark, another company that tracks online sales, reported a 33 percent rise.

The average order rose 2.6 percent to $193.24 this year, according to IBM Benchmark. It didn’t give total dollar sales numbers for comparison. The company said about 80 percent of retailers offered online deals.

The Cyber Monday numbers point to Americans’ growing comfort with using their personal computers, tablets and smartphones to shop.

The figures retailers released Thursday, based on revenue at stores opened at least a year, are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health. They also give a glimpse into how they’re faring so far during the holiday season.