Industry. The Straight Poop On The Holiday Shopping Season. Second City Style Fashion Blog

If you are like me, you are sick of hearing the conflicting reports about sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We have all heard plenty of hype, now here are a few facts according to a source I trust, eMarketer.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but as the 2006 holiday shopping season officially kicks off, here is what the Census Bureau of the US Department of Commerce says about what has happened leading up to now. 

On a non-adjusted basis, the estimate of US retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2006 totaled $25.6 billion, an increase of 3.4% from the second quarter of 2006.

In addition, the Census Bureau published these numbers about the previous holiday season(s):

• 20 billion — the number of letters, packages and cards delivered by the US Postal Service between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2005 (December 19 was the "busiest mailing day" of the year)
• About one million — the number of packages delivered by the US Postal Service every day last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas (December 21 was the busiest delivery day)
• $31.7 billion — the total retail sales of the nation’s department stores in December 2005
• 14% — the proportion of total 2005 sales for department stores that took place in December (the percentage for jewelry stores was 24%)
• $19.4 billion — the value of retail sales by online shopping and mail-order houses in December 2005, and easily the highest total for any month last year
• $27.1 billion — total retail e-commerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 (for more, see above)
• 48,695 — the number of malls and shopping centers in the US as of 2005, an increase of 12,000 since 1990
• 15,626 — the number of e-shopping and mail-order houses in business in 2004