U.S. retail sales for the November 1 through December 24 holiday season were up 3.4%, according to Marstercard SpendingPulse.  Online sales were up 18.8%, growing at a much faster pace than brick and mortar, accounting for 14.6% of sales for the season, according to the report.

Department store sales were down 1.8%; a 6.9% growth in e-commerce sales by department store websites was not enough to overcome the decline in brick-and-mortar purchases.

Traffic was down at most malls on Super Saturday, but conversion was up, offsetting the decline, according to information released by retail consulting and research firm CGP, as reported by Chain Store Age.  The analysis is based on quantitative surveys from 50 major retailers in 100 shopping venues that CGP has tracked since 2005.

Sales on Super Saturday (December 21) were $34.4 billion, the highest single-day sales in history, the firm reported.  The day’s sales were up from $31.9 billion in 2018.

CGP released another metric on online sales growth:  through Super Saturday, online sales had taken 58% of the retail growth for the season.