The annual Mastercard SpendingPulse holiday retail survey finds that sales were up by 3% for the extended period of Oct. 11 through Dec. 24, 2020.
In the traditional holiday period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, sales were said to be up 2.4%.
Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former chairman of Saks Inc., commented, “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 ecommerce growth.”
Ecommerce accounted for 19.7% of overall retail sales in 2020, up from 13.4% 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%, and it grew 31% online specifically. In addition, home improvement was up 14.1%, with ecommerce sales up 79.7%.
Meanwhile, apparel experienced a decline of 19.1% year over year, while electronics and appliances were up 6% overall, the survey found.
Department stores experienced an overall sales decline of 10.2% while their online sales rose 3.3%, reinforcing the importance of omnichannel offerings. Buy online, pick up in store, as well as technologies like contactless pickup were key for retailers this season, according to Mastercard.
Consumers shopped far earlier than in years past, as retailers offered special promotions early and often.
In addition, though Black Friday was down by -16.1%, Thanksgiving weekend through Cyber Monday remained a key time for shoppers, with Black Friday being the top spending day of the 2020 holiday season.