Credit Card Use Shows Positive Outlook for Holiday Shopping

Retailers always hope for a busy holiday shopping season. That’s because Christmas shopping accounts for approximately 30 percent of their annual sales. Black Friday sales always signal the official start of the holiday shopping, and in 2016, a legion of 154 million people descended on stores the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The National Retail Federation estimates that consumers spent an average of $289.19 per person over the holiday weekend. That’s a whopping $44.5 billion dollars spent in just three days. For payment methods, consumers used debit cards for 42 percent of their purchases, while credit card use accounted for 32 percent of sales.

Online Shopping Remains Strong

Many people opted to avoid the mall crowds and shop online instead. In fact, more people shopped online than visited retail shops in person. Some 44 percent of Americans went online, which is 4 percent more than shopped in-store.

Another interesting trend is the number of retailers running sales this season. Sure, retailers always run sales this time of year, but it’s the sheer number that stands out this year. So many, in fact, that over 36 percent of shoppers bought all of their gifts on sale.

Stay Prepared

So, what do all these numbers mean for you? First, it means you should be making a lot of sales this quarter. Second, your credit card processor better be working their tails off making sure your transactions are posted, and are available if your payment system goes down. Be sure to have your credit card processor’s customer service number handy in the event of any malfunctions in your payment system. Remember, the Christmas shopping season only comes once a year. Make the most of it.