Overview
- Visa’s preliminary data show U.S. retail sales up 4.2% year over year for Nov. 1–Dec. 21, not adjusted for inflation and excluding autos, gasoline and restaurants, with real growth around 2.2% by Visa’s estimate.
- Mastercard reports a 3.9% increase over the same period, noting results are not inflation‑adjusted and exclude automotive sales as SpendingPulse tracks retail with some food service activity.
- E‑commerce drove the gains with online sales up 7.8% as in‑store transactions still dominated at 73% of payment volume, and networks highlighted growing use of AI tools for price comparisons and product discovery.
- Electronics led category growth at roughly 5.8% followed by apparel at about 5.3% and general merchandise near 3.7%, while home improvement slipped 1% and furniture ticked up 0.8%.
- Financing played a larger role as 37% of Americans took on holiday debt averaging $1,223 and overall credit card balances hit a record $1.23 trillion, with surveys also finding many planned fewer gifts due to tariff‑related price pressures.