Visa Predicts Dec. 23 Will Be Busiest Shopping Day of 2006 Holiday Season

“We’re seeing much healthier spending throughout the first 10 days of December, an indication that consumers will make a strong push right up to the 25th,” said Wayne Best, senior vice president of business and economic analysis for Visa USA. “Our analysis indicates a strong up-tick in categories that were slightly lower than expected in November, including department and discount stores.”

Spending remained strong in the home furnishings, drug/pharmacies and electronics categories, according to Visa data. Discount- and department-store categories also appeared stronger during the first part of December; spending in both categories had lagged during November.

Based on an analysis of spending on Visa-branded credit, debit, and prepaid cards through Dec. 10, Best identified the following trends, which indicate that Dec. 23 will likely be the busiest shopping day of the 2006 holiday season:

• Slow Start Sets the Stage for a Strong Finish. “Early procrastination by consumers this holiday season contributed to moderate sales heading into Black Friday, where we experienced our first real spike in consumer spending,” Best said. “Although consumers were late getting to the shopping malls and online retailers in November, we anticipate that the strongest shopping days are yet to come.”
• Busy Families Find Relief in Extra Shopping Day. “Despite robust employment gains and solid wage growth, moderate spending during November indicates that consumers have simply been too busy to hit the shopping malls,” Best said. “However, consumers will benefit from having a critical extra shopping day, because the Christmas holiday lands on a Monday and because of the extended shipping period offered by online retailers — due to quicker turnaround time compared to last year. So we can expect to see longer shopping lines and fuller parking lots leading up to December 25.”

Purchase Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) in the United States amounts to more than $7.2 trillion annually, with general-purpose payment cards capturing about a third of that total. Spending on Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid products represents nearly 17 percent of total Purchase PCE. This means that $17 out of every $100 spent by consumers is on a Visa-branded card.