Consumer confidence is a touchy thing — driven by tangibles like employment, wages and spending power, and intangibles like the anticipation of employment and wage hikes (or tax breaks). In recent years, despite an increasingly healthy economy, consumer confidence has lagged behind wage and employment improvements, muting retailers’ holiday happiness.
This year was different. Holiday sales increased a record 4.9% this year, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse report released Tuesday. It’s the largest year-over-year increase since 2011 and an indication of solid consumer confidence. E-commerce sales soared 18.1% over last year thanks in part to a late-season surge, according to the report, which details holiday sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24 across all payment types.
