CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No official numbers have been released yet, but West Virginia Retailers Association President Bridget Lambert says holiday sales are up from last year in the Mountain State.
“There are projected numbers that we were going to come out slightly ahead of sales from last year and we’re on trend to do that,” Lambert said, five days before the Christmas holiday.
A 3.6 percent sales growth was projected throughout the country, according to the National Retail Federation.
Online sales are expected to increase between 7-10 percent, Lambert said.
She said that’s because more people turn to online shopping now.
“People are taking advantage of digital shopping, whether it’s on their smart phone or smart pad. All of those trends are changing and retailers are responding,” Lambert said.
Lambert said stores opened earlier this year and deals were made available even before Thanksgiving Day.
“Stores have been non stop since late October actually,” she said. “Some of our stores started having holiday options earlier in the year before Black Friday.”
The holiday shopping season, Lambert said, won’t end until well after Christmas Day because of gift card purchases.
“We will see the return on those cards. People will be in the stores with traffic right after December 25,” she said.
More specifically, there has been an up tick in clothing and toy sales, but gift cards remain popular among all people this time of year, Lambert said.