{"id":1673131,"date":"2014-02-11T03:53:35","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T11:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/?p=1673131"},"modified":"2014-02-20T09:05:07","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T17:05:07","slug":"national-retail-federation-predicts-4-1-percent-growth-in-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/02\/11\/national-retail-federation-predicts-4-1-percent-growth-in-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"National Retail Federation predicts 4.1 percent growth in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite a rough January, merchants can look forward to retail industry<\/a> growth for the coming year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2014 economic forecast, retail sales are expected to increase by 4.1 percent<\/a> in 2014. This is up from the organization's 2013 projection, which anticipated a 3.7 percent growth. Improvements in the economy and job market are contributing to this trend.<\/p>\n

"Measured improvements in economic growth combined with positive expectations for continued consumer spending will put the retail industry in a relatively good place in 2014," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.<\/p>\n

However, the NRF noted that merchants still face a number of challenges, including debt ceiling debates, healthcare expenses and the effect of weather trends. Harsh winter weather is believed to be the culprit for disappointing January sales<\/a>, according to The Wall Street Journal. The news source attributed a 9.6 percent decrease in sales to the "polar vortex" weather, which kept many shoppers indoors.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the NRF predicted a growth in ecommerce this year, and retailers can use online retail marketing strategies to help overcome Mother Nature's obstacles. For example, merchants can use retail customer intelligence<\/a> to send targeted ads for items customers might need during winter storms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite a rough January, merchants can expect retail industry growth for the coming year. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1673132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1673131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail-customer-business-intelligence","category-e-commerce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t