Online retail sales in December “jumped strongly” year over year as Thanksgiving weekend wasn’t exclusive to November in 2024, according to the National Retail Federation’s Retail Monitor and CNBC.

This year, the Cyber 5 — the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — ended Dec. 2, pushing some of the year’s biggest retail sales from November into December. U.S. consumers spent $13.3 billion online on Cyber Monday alone, Digital Commerce 360 previously reported. Because that was in December rather than November this year, it contributed to a growth in December online retail sales.

“Growth rebounded strongly in December from a misleadingly weaker November as the result of the final two days of the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend being included in December’s data,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO, in a statement. “Calendar issues aside, value-conscious customers showed enthusiasm for celebrating loved ones with the right gifts at the right price points for their budgets in December. Households are in good financial shape amid low unemployment, growing income and continued deceleration of inflation for goods. We remain confident in our 2024 holiday forecast and retail sales projection for the year.”

Meanwhile, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, U.S. online retail sales grew 8.7% year over year, Digital Commerce 360 previously reported. In those two months, U.S. consumers spent $241.4 billion online, according to Adobe Analytics data. That marked a new sales record, as did each day of the Cyber 5. U.S. consumers spent a minimum of $5.3 billion per day during the period, according to Adobe data.

NRF says the Retail Monitor uses actual, anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions and does not need to be revised monthly or annually.

Online retail in December benefits from Cyber Monday sales

Total U.S. retail and food sales in December 2024 were $729.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s 0.4% growth over November 2024 ($725.93 billion) and 3.9% growth over December 2023 ($701.67 billion), according to the Census Bureau.

Nonstore retailers, which includes online retail, increased sales 6.0% year over year, the Census Bureau said. That brought ecommerce and other nonstore retail sales to $126.96 billion in December.

December slightly exceeds November’s ecommerce and other nonstore retail sales of about $126.73 billion. It’s also an increase over December 2023, when nonstore retailers’ sales totaled about $119.78 billion.

In 2024 as a whole, total sales grew 3.0% over 2023, it added. Meanwhile, for the period from Oct. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, sales increased 3.7%.

Total retail sales in December 2024 increased 1.74% from the prior month, according to Retail Monitor data. Meanwhile, they jumped 7.24% year over year. That compares with 0.15% month-over-month growth and 2.35% year-over-year growth in November.

CNBC and NRF’s Retail Monitor exclude automobile and gasoline from their calculation of total retail sales. Additionally, they identify a calculation for “core” retail sales, which exclude restaurants in addition to automobile dealers and gas stations.

Core retail sales in December grew 2.19% over the previous month and 8.41% year over year. In November, core retail sales had decreased 0.19% from October and increased 1.43% year over year.

“Consumers came out to spend this holiday season and clearly underscored the solid growth in the U.S. economy,” said Jack Kleinhenz, NRF chief economist, in a statement. “The spending pace was back to pre-pandemic growth and indicates a good start for the year ahead. While the shorter holiday shopping calendar likely influenced the continued trend of more online shopping, there was also a return to in-person shopping experiences and a focus on early buying. The 2024 figures were driven in part by lower inflation compared with 2023, particularly for goods. Even though consumers are still relatively healthy and there was a notable increase in spending, they remain budget conscious.”

NRF monthly sales growth breakdown by category

Sales increased month over month in all categories but one

• Online and other non-store sales grew 4.49% month over month in December.
• Clothing and accessories stores (up 4.07%)
• Electronics and appliance stores (up 3.25%)
• General merchandise stores (up 3.24%)
• Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores (up 3.81%)
• Health and personal care stores (up 1.85%)
• Furniture and home furnishings stores (up 0.84%)
• Grocery and beverage stores (up 0.59%)
• Building and garden supply stores decreased 0.09% month over month.

Sales grew year over year across the board

• Online and other non-store sales increased 33.05% year over year in December.
• Clothing and accessories stores (up 14.47%)
• Electronics and appliance stores (up 10.23%)
• General merchandise stores (up 9.77%)
• Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores (up 7.43%)
• Health and personal care stores (up 6.98%)
• Furniture and home furnishings stores (up 5.34%)
• Grocery and beverage stores (up 4.27%)
• Building and garden supply stores (up 0.85%)

Click here to read last month’s update on U.S. online sales.

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