Last-minute shopping gives lift in finale

By The Associated Press
Posted: 6:12 pm Wed, December 28, 2011

NEW YORK — The holiday shopping season turned out to be two seasons split by a big lull.

A surge in buying in the two weeks before Christmas coupled with a record-breaking Black Friday gave retailers a solid season. The doldrums between the buying binges show how shoppers have learned to wait for the discounts they know will come.

For Dec. 1-24, spending rose 4.7 percent compared with the same period last year, according to research firm ShopperTrak. In November, it rose 4.1 percent. A 4 percent increase is considered a successful season. A combined figure for the whole season won’t be available until after Dec. 31.

The increase is good news for the economy, because it shows shoppers were willing and able to fund a holiday splurge. Consumer spending, including major items such as health care, accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

Still, plenty of shoppers are pinched for cash in the slow economic recovery, and were seeking the best deals. Stores have trained even shoppers who are primed to spend to look for a discount.

In the week before Christmas, last-minute shoppers gave retailers a 4.5 percent increase in revenue at stores open at least a year with the same week last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.