NEW YORK — A flurry of post-Christmas bargain shopping helped drive sales higher in the last week of December, according to a report Wednesday from a shopping-mall trade group. Increased gift-card use, mild weather and a federal holiday Monday all contributed.
Sales at stores open at least one year rose 5.3 percent during the week that ended Saturday compared with the same period a year ago. That report comes from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, which estimates sales for 24 major stores such as Target Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp.
Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 1.2 percent for the week that ended Saturday compared with the previous week, according to the index.
The metric is considered a key gauge of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
As a result of the latest surge, the group increased its December sales-growth estimate to a range of 4 percent to 4.5 percent. Previously, the council expected December sales to rise by 3.5 percent to 4 percent.
Major retailers are set to release their final figures for the month today, but the big concern is how aggressive discounting and other incentives such as earlier store openings and free shipping affected merchants’ profits. Stores are expected to offer comments regarding their outlook for fourth-quarter results, which will be released next month.
