Will Donald Trump’s Win Ruin Christmas For Retailers?

Before the election, the nation held holiday spending in check, waiting to see whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton would claim the White House. That was partly due to uncertainty and partly because the race for president sucked up attention — and ad space — that otherwise would have gone to the beginning of the biggest shopping season of the year. “Everywhere you turn — whether you’re picking up a newspaper or watching television — political advertisements are taking up ad space that retailers typically use to get holiday shopping on the minds of consumers across the country,” National Retail Federation (NRF) CEO Matthew Shay said in a press release. Partly because of the slow start expected in November shopping, the NRF annual consumer spending survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics forecast that the average American would spend $935.58 during the holiday shopping season, down from 2015’s record $952.58. (That numbers includes gifts, food, decorations, and other holiday-related purchases). And while a year-to-year drop is never great, forecasts for the second-highest spending year of all time still gave retailers reason to cheer. Read more at Nasdaq.