Holiday shoppers rushing to finish their shopping in advance of Christmas greatly increased retail sales for the week ending Dec. 22, compared to the previous week, according to traffic counter ShopperTrak. Compared to last year, however, retail sales were down.

ShopperTrak reported that the National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE) increased more than 39% for the week ending Dec. 22, compared to the previous week.  On a year-over-year basis, the NRSE declined 2.5% compared to the same week in 2011.

The NRSE increased this past week—the largest shopping week of the year—recording an estimated $42.5 billion in GAFO (general merchandise, apparel and accessories, furniture and other sales) retail sales. 

Preliminary data shows that Super Saturday, Dec. 22, was the second-largest retail sales day after Black Friday, while Friday, Dec. 21 was the fourth-largest sales day of the holiday season so far. Sunday, Dec. 23 was the third-largest sales day of the season, showing that consumers procrastinated until the very end of the season to complete their holiday shopping.

Preliminary traffic results for the week ending Dec. 23 show that Total Retail Store traffic was down 3.3% compared to the same week in 2011. Super Saturday was the second-largest retail traffic day of the 2012 holiday season. Sunday, Dec. 23 was the third-largest retail traffic day, while Friday, Dec. 21 was the fourth-largest retail traffic day of the holiday season so far.

Chicago-based ShopperTrak is a retail technology company that anonymously counts people, analyzes data and identifies opportunities to increase revenue for retailers, mall developers and entertainment venues.

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