NEW YORK — Electronics sellers and online merchants thrived in November, particularly at the start of the holiday shopping season, but clothing and luxury merchants struggled, according to estimates being released today.
Those results, combined with a trimmed sales prediction for retailers’ official November results, raise worries that some sectors could face tough going in the critical countdown to Christmas as they grapple with frugal Americans contending with job insecurity and tight credit.
“Last year, it was uncertainty that was driving the cautiousness,” said Mary Delk, director of Deloitte Consulting.
This year, it’s “anxiety about their personal finances” that’s making shoppers more frugal.
Fat discounts drove shoppers to stores and online last weekend, and Delk thinks it’s likely they won’t come back until the season’s final hours, when the bargains are even better.
The International Council of Shopping Centers trimmed its November sales-growth forecast Tuesday, citing more shoppers who are saying they’re putting off holiday shopping compared with a year ago.
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market-research firm NPD Group, says what’s comforting is that shoppers, who had slashed their spending all year, bought plenty of items for themselves last weekend. That means there’s plenty of gift-buying to go, he said.
Analysts are studying how consumers behave during the holidays and beyond to get a sense of how strongly the economy will rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s. The holiday season accounts for up to 40 percent of annual sales and profits for many retailers.
