Weighed down by bad weather and economic concerns, holiday shopping in the U.S. has been sluggish, as shoppers either stayed at home or tightened up on their spending.
Of particular concern has been women's clothing, which has been slower than many other categories, falling off by 5.7 percent over the early part of the holiday season at a number of chain retailers like AnnTaylor (ANN), FAS Inc (CHS) and Talbots (TLB).
The good news is possibly the bad weather has kept people at home, and there could be a strong push over the last days of the Christmas season.
Other than consumer electronics, other strong performers so far have been men's clothing which gained 4.5 percent and footwear, which increased by 6.3 percent.
Retailers so far have in general held off on slashing prices too much, as they believe there's going to be a big rush before the end of the huge shopping season. With the economic climate we're in, that's a little surprising to me, although it depends on the demographic you're looking at.
For example, households with yearly income over $100,000 have increased their spending this year by 28 percent, while those with annual income under $50,000, have spent at clip of 10 percent over last year.
Online spending has been the bright spot this year, as sales have increased by 18 percent from last year, although less than the 26 percent increase enjoyed last year.
That has helped online retail specialist Amazon.com (AMZN) a lot, as sales for them so far has increased by 29.8 percent from last year.
Discount retailers should continue to struggle, as low income shoppers across all platforms are spending less this year.
With the weather being a factor so far this year, we may see a strong finish over the next week, which could cure the holiday retail blues that have been part of the retail picture so far this year.
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