Back in 2012, the world economy was in a fragile state at the time and whether it slips back into a recession or continues it’s slow recovery was yet to be clear. One indicator that suggested that the economy may continue it’s slow recovery is US holiday sales figures that were released just the previous week.
The figures showed that the US is continuing to experience extremely slow retail sales for the period from October 28th to December 24th. During the same time last year, the sales were up 2 percent.
Sales in 20012 were tempered by a couple of critical factors with the first being Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy smashed the east coast of the US and prevented shoppers from doing their Christmas shopping.
The second reason was there was concern among the public about the economy in general which made shoppers cautious.
We don’t have the same problems here in Australia. Retail is flat because consumer confidence is slow and traditional retailers are feeling the heat from online stores like Catch of the Day who have been making huge waves in the market by offering great prices and promotions like a Catch of the day coupon.