Retail Sales Predicted to Rise This Holiday

The retail tracking service has also broken down holiday sales predictions by month, forecasting a 3.0 percent increase for next month and a 2.7 rise in December. In addition, ShopperTrak predicts this year's holiday foot traffic to decline by 0.1 percent for November/December combined compared to 2009's 3.4 percent drop.

"Despite various economic pressures, consumers have remained resilient and found a way to spend throughout 2010, although not at the level retailers experienced prior to the depths of the recession," says Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. "Although we are predicting a nearly 3 percent sales rise this season, any small increase has to be seen as relative at this point. Winning retailers will effectively

ShopperTrak has also monitored shopping trends, reporting that over the last 10 months consumers have visited an average of 3.32 stores per shopping trip, down from 3.43 in 2009. The stats are significantly down in years prior to the recession (2006, 2007 and early 2008), which were between 4.0 and 5.0 stores visited.