Due to a late Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday landed in December, impacting November retail sales.
NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said: “Consumers are focusing on value and spending carefully during the holiday period, and retailers are offering products at competitive prices to fit every budget. We remain confident in our 2025 holiday forecast as well as our retail sales projections for the full year.”
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Total retail sales, excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, were up 0.12% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 4.53% unadjusted year over year in November, according to the Retail Monitor. That compared with increases of 0.6% month over month and 5% year over year in October.
The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to auto dealers and gas stations) was down a slight 0.04% month over month in November but up 4.66% year over year. That compares with increases of 0.6% month over month and 4.89% year over year in October.
Total sales were up 5.06% year over year for the first 11 months of the year and core sales were up 5.22%.
November sales were up in all but one category on a yearly basis, led by digital products, sporting goods stores and clothing stores but were down in six out of nine categories on a monthly basis.
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By GlobalDataSporting goods, hobby, music and book stores were up 0.28% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 8.96% year over year unadjusted.
Clothing and accessories stores were down 0.04% month over month seasonally adjusted but up 8.16% year over year unadjusted.
The November results come as NRF is forecasting that 2025 holiday sales from 1 November through to 31 December will increase between 3.7% and 4.2% compared with 2024 to just over $1tn. NRF has forecast that retail sales for the entire year will increase between 2.7% and 3.7% over 2024 to as much as $5.48tn.
