A leading forecaster is painting an optimistic picture of the upcoming holiday season.
Deloitte’s Retail & Distribution practice expects total holiday sales to climb 4 to 4.5 percent this year. That would be on par with last year’s 4.5 percent gain, Deloitte said.
Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s senior U.S. economist, said in a statement that “rising home prices with steady job creation may buoy consumers’ confidence in the economy and create a wealth effect.”
Additionally, Deloitte forecasts a 12.5 to 13 percent increase in non-store sales—with nearly three quarters of those sales coming from online, and the rest coming from catalogs and interactive TV.
Deloitte also predicts that mobile-influenced retail store sales will account for 8 percent of overall sales, as more consumers research price and product information from smartphones and tablets.
Deloitte’s forecast beats that of another leading forecaster, ShopperTrak, which has predicted a 2.4 percent improvement this holiday. ShopperTrak also says online sales growth only will be in the single digits.
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