The National Retail Federation released its annual forecast of holiday spending: the organization predicts that retail sales will grow between 3% and 4% over 2022 levels.  This anticipated holiday sales growth rate is lower than the pandemic years, but typical for the pre-pandemic decade; holiday sales grew an average of 3.6% each year from 2010 and 2019.

After a 2022 holiday season in which online sales grew more slowly (see "Holiday Online Sales Grew Slowly"), online sales growth is expected to return to pre-pandemic norms, with an increase from 7% to 9% in the 2023 season.

Online wholesale marketplace Faire is laying off 250 employees, according to Insider.  The company last cut staff in October 2022, when it laid off around 7% of its 1,200 employees at the time, according to the report.  Faire raised $416 million in May 2022; more recently it took an investment from Shopify and established an alliance in which the two companies are collaborating on wholesale business.