CHICAGO — Shoppers spent about $44 billion on general merchandise, apparel and accessories, furniture and other merchandise in the week that ended Dec. 24, according to ShopperTrak here.
The results represent a 37.8% increase over the preceding week and a 14.8% gain over the corresponding week in 2010. Foot traffic increased 32.4% over the preceding week.
ShoperTrak, which measures foot traffic in more than 25,000 retail locations, said December month-do-date figures are up 4.7% over 2010.
"Holiday shopping reached a climax last week," said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder, in a statement. "With good weather in most of the country and the season coming to a close, procrastinators and bargain hunters hit the stores and gave retailers the sales lift they needed to outpace last year."
The company also reported that Dec. 26 ranked fourth in foot-traffic and sales for the entire holiday season, behind Black Friday (Nov. 26); Friday, Dec. 23; and Saturday, Dec. 17. Foot traffic increased 25.9% over the same day last year, and consumers spent $7.1 billion on Dec. 26 at retail, an increase of 25.5% over the same day last year.
