Small home appliances, beauty and technology were the primary sales drivers during the fifth week of the holiday shopping season.

NORTH AMERICA–Despite lukewarm results at retail overall, sales from Cyber Monday and the subsequent week were 1 percent higher compared to the same period in 2016, according to The NPD Group’s U.S. weekly point-of-sale results for key general merchandise categories tracked during the holidays.

In addition to the slight uptick during the fifth week of holiday shopping, The NPD Group also reported that cumulative retail sales are up 2 percent across key general merchandise categories.

According to NPD’s Checkout information, more online buyers took advantage of Cyber Week promotions in 2017 than in 2016. Online shoppers also spent 8 percent more than last year; however, it was spread out across a larger number of online orders and days. The greatest increases in spending during the week occurred on Tuesday and Friday, with more than 7 percent growth.

Small home appliances, beauty and technology were the top performing categories during the week, with dollar gains exceeding 6 percent. Other top performing categories include home automation (driven by security and monitoring), stereo headphones, kitchen appliances (driven by cookers), LCD TVs and sport leisure footwear.

“Leading segments are struggling to make up for aggressive promotions that counteract positive product movement in others,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group. “The final weeks of this holiday season will be critical as delivery deadlines approach and consumers are driven back to the stores to complete their shopping.”