The holidays are a time that retailers look forward to – after all, it's the busiest shopping season of the year. However, over the past few years, the weeks leading up to and in between Thanksgiving and Christmas were lackluster, as the global economic recession hit many consumers hard. Fortunately, things are looking brighter for 2013's holiday season.

According to a recent survey conducted by Baynote, 38 percent of merchants surveyed said they are expecting their sales to grow between 11 percent and 20 percent from last year's holiday. Furthermore, 22 percent of respondents are optimistic about a sales increase of 21 percent or more this year. 

However, although sales may be picking up again, the shopping season is expected to look a bit different. The study revealed that while retailers anticipate shoppers visiting their brick-and-mortar locations in large numbers, most companies expect the bulk of their holiday sales  to take place online. Baynote found that 60 percent of businesses forecast a year-over-year rise of 10 percent in purchases made through the Internet. 

Additionally, mobile growth is another expected positive holiday season trend, as more than half of respondents (53 percent) think revenues from mobile point of sale solutions will rise significantly this year.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, August 8th, 2013 at 10:30 am .