Sept. 23, 2008 – The
National Retail Federation today released its forecast for the upcoming
2008 holiday season, projecting that sales will rise 2.2 per cent this
year to $470.4 billion.
The National Retail Federation
today released its forecast for the upcoming 2008 holiday season,
projecting that sales will rise 2.2 per cent this year to $470.4 billion. This
gain would fall well below the ten-year average of 4.4 per cent holiday
sales growth and would represent the slowest growth since 2002, when
holiday sales rose 1.3 per cent.
“Current financial pressures and a lack of confidence in the economy
will force shoppers to be very conservative with their holiday
spending,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. “We expect
consumers to be frugal this season and less willing to splurge on
discretionary items.”
A number of economic indicators point to a challenging holiday for
retailers. A struggling housing market and rising unemployment
accompanied by meager income gains will continue to hamper the consumer
throughout the season. Food and energy costs will remain high. With the
current financial industry crisis continuing to chip away at consumer
confidence, NRF does not foresee an economic turnaround until the
second half of next year.
Print this page
