Black Friday may not quite be here yet, but in Canada, Thanksgiving has already come and gone, and in China — well, there they’re setting records already for online holiday shopping. We refer to the just-concluded “Singles Day,” in China, which comes on 11/11 — the idea being that all those “ones” emphasize “single-ness.” As Bloomberg News describes it “Singles’ Day, a Chinese twist on Valentine’s Day, was invented by students in the 1990s… When written numerically, the date is reminiscent of bare branches, the Chinese expression for bachelors and spinsters.”
Tag: holidays
Halloween Spending, Holiday Trends — and Goodbye, Cash?
The Boston Globe says it succinctly: “Consumers may still be holding tight to their wallets after the recession, but there’s at least one occasion that doesn’t appear to have them spooked: Halloween.”
4th of July Snapshot: Gas Prices, Economic Indicators Heat Up Like Roman Candles
As we approach the July 4th 2014, the economy news at summer’s midpoint celebration is increasingly rose-colored like one of those ground bloom flower fireworks.
On the one hand, as Bloomberg reports, “jobs growth adds more sunshine” to the U.S. Economy. Specifically, job growth, in payroll specialist ADP’s report ahead of the official Federal figures, was much higher than expected. ““The labor market appears to be firing on all cylinders and is finally self-sustaining,” the Bloomberg said, citing two two PNC Financial Services economists.
When New Year’s Was New — Plus: New Cards Coming for the Hacked!
In the spirit of the holidays, we’ve stayed away from some of our “hard news” offerings in this space, to report on more thematically consistent topics, like the history of Christmas gift-giving, or this week — a history of New Year’s itself.
Before the Holiday Spending Reports: A Brief History of Christmas
First of all, let us wish you happy holidays, and a Merry Christmas. We assume this will pertain throughout the 12 Days of Christmas, whenever you catch up with this post.
And as we all slip into more congenial, hopefully somewhat more relaxed “holiday time,” we also leave behind our reports of spending and card use trends, card security breaches (but oh boy — more about that in the new year!) and such, for a little bit, to contemplate how it was we got “here.”
Holiday Spending Up, Card Use Being Encouraged
We realize we’re not even into the actual “Twelve Days of Christmas” yet, but already holiday spending trends are being compiled and assessed. A recent survey from Citi indicates that holiday spending may land on the “up” side this year, after all. According to the survey, “twenty-nine percent of Americans estimate they will be spending more than $1,000 this holiday season, up from 22 percent in 2011. Amongst those planning on shopping for the holidays, Americans will spend an average of $968, up $60 from 2011.”
Black Friday Down, Yet Cyber Monday Sets Record
There are a lot of interesting tea leaves — perhaps that’s peppermint tea, in the spirit of the season — to be read as the data comes in from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, that stretch of time formerly known as “Thanksgiving Weekend.
The 12 Ways of Christmas
It’s a short holiday week, and we wanted to get the blogging in before it was time to address the stuffing!
If you’re on the merchant side of the equation, it’s also a “short” holiday season, due to Thanksgiving coming later in November than usual. So there’s even more expectation — frenzy? — around the official “Black Friday kickoff” sales. Not only for customers, but for merchants as well.
First Data’s Data Points to Stronger Holiday Season
An analysis from the First Data Corporation shows a discernible uptick in consumer spending in the period heading right into the holiday season — namely, the month of October. For that four-week period, their “SpendTrend” analysis tracked “same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.”
