US holiday e-commerce sales will grow 11.6% this year and account for nearly 60% of the season’s added retail sales, even though online is only about a quarter of the total, according to Forrester. Total holiday spending across US retail should hit $1.1 trillion, up 5.1% from last year, however, more of that growth will come from higher prices than from people buying more, so retailers could post solid sales numbers while the number of items sold grows more slowly. Spending is also leaning on higher-income households, because inflation, slower real wage growth and shrinking savings are squeezing lower-income shoppers harder.
