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2021 Holiday Season Retail Results Reveal Strong Growth

Business • January 14, 2022


By Nick Rigitano
NSGA Director of Insights and Analysis

With another holiday season in the rear-view mirror, NSGA has kept track of the 2021 holiday sales results released by multiple organizations. The overall sentiment from the retail holiday results is strong growth for this past season that exceeded forecast expectations.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently announced sales in November and December increased 14.1 percent versus the prior year, well above its projected estimates of between 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent. The results set a spending record despite challenges from inflation, supply chain disruptions and the ongoing pandemic. The number includes online and other non-store retail sales which were up 11.3 percent, meeting NRF’s online spending forecast.

Additionally, Mastercard reported US retail sales grew 8.5 percent this holiday season (November 1–December 24), according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures overall retail sales across all payment types. In-store sales saw a rebound, as expected, and rose 8.1 percent compared to 2020.

For more information on the holiday results, click below:

NRF Results 

Mastercard Results