MasterCard has announced the top holiday sales boosters for this year: casual dining, jewelry and women's apparel topped the list, the Chicago Tribune reports.
"All of the pricier stuff for them moved and moved very aggressively to the point where the last couple of days before Christmas Eve the shelves were basically bare," Belus Capital Advisors representative Brian Sozzi told the newspaper of Best Buy's strong holiday season, arguing that electronic sales were still an important part of this holiday's figures.
High-end products like watches, headphones and television sets still sold well, despite the casual dining, dining and jewelry leading the charts, Sozzi said, according to the newspaper.
Cheaper gas prices and declining unemployment rates are said to have contributed to this year's increase in holiday shopping and spending.
"There was positive growth across the majority of retailers," ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said, according to Market Watch.
ShopperTrack is a market research company that compiles data about consumer spending.
"The final numbers will tell the tale, but we know that Super Saturday saw brisk sales with both conversion rate and average dollar per shopper increasing over last year."
From the period of Black Friday through Christmas Eve, retail sales increased 5.5 percent, the website also reports. These include video game sales, electronics, men's clothing and other consumer products.
Still, jewelry and women's apparel topped the list.
