Christmas May Be Over, but Holiday Shopping Is Not<br />And on Black Friday this year, Americans spent 17 percent more online than they did in 2016, according<br />to Adobe Digital Insights, while foot traffic into stores declined slightly, according to Shoppertrak.<br />Overall retail sales from the start of November until Christmas Eve increased nearly 5 percent from the same<br />period a year earlier, the largest upswing since 2011, according to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse.<br />The day after Christmas was most likely the fourth-busiest shopping day of the season this year, behind Black Friday<br />and the two Saturdays before the holiday, according to Shoppertrak.<br />Since sales forecasts were released in November, Macy’s stock has climbed 45 percent, and Abercrombie & Fitch is up 40 percent.<br />Five years ago, only 5 percent of consumers planned to shop after Christmas, according to a Deloitte survey.<br />A similar psychology applies with gift cards: Shoppers with a gift card in 2017 overspent its value<br />by an average of $38, up $10 from last year, according to First Data, a payment technology company.
