Gift Card Shopping Kicks In
From the AP: Post-Christmas
Sales Keep Shoppers Buying
DEARBORN, Mich. — Shoppers armed with newly obtained gift cards and poorly greeted
presents returned to malls and stores in search of returns, post-Christmas discounts
and fresh merchandise.The day after Christmas offered merchants another shot at getting consumers to
open their wallets, with retailers hoping customers would be lured by sales and come
to spend their gift cards, which are recorded as sales only after they are redeemed.
Then we have this from SF Chronicle: Amazon
reports record holiday sales Online shoppers boost retailers’ numbers by 24%
Online retailers are enjoying a
cheerful holiday season, with industry leader Amazon.com reporting record sales during
the period. Through Dec. 22, sales for the industry were up 24 percent from the previous year
to $17.5 billion, according to ComScore Networks Inc. By the end of the month, Internet
sales are expected to reach $19 billion.Analysts had forecast strong growth in online retailing during the holidays, driven
by an increase in the number of shoppers seeking convenience, free shipping, and ways
to avoid sales taxes and high gasoline prices.>
I bet if this wasn’t such good news,
we would be hearing more about it. It would be front page news on The New York/DNC
Times I am sure.UPDATE: Wizbang has a nice
array of links from the media.