The holiday season was one of giving this year as spending saw an increase of 8.5% compared to a year ago, according to a Mastercard SpendingPulse report.
Mastercard had predicted the number to be 8.8% and despite being a little shy of that mark, it was still the biggest annual increase in 17 years.
When it comes to what shoppers were buying this year, apparel and jewelry sales rose 47.3% and 32%, respectively, compared to their 2020 numbers. Compared to the 2019 holiday season, they were up 29% and 26.2%.
Meanwhile, electronics also saw a jump of 16.2%, despite hard-to-get items like the PS5 not being more accessible.
However, some are concerned that with a strong holiday season—defined as Nov. 1 to Dec. 24—might come a tough January and February, CNBC reported.
The increase in shopping during the holidays came at a time when labor shortages, supply chain issues, and record inflation plague the country, still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, retail analysts like Oliver Chen think that the months ahead are going to be a lot tougher than what we've seen most recently.
"Consumer demand remains very strong, but we're cautiously optimistic because the traffic has decelerated a little bit in December," Chen said to CNBC.
Chen thinks retailers could be forced to increase markdowns as shoppers curb their appetites and goods arrive at the wrong time.
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Still, some think that growth will continue as the report from Mastercard SpendingPulse also found that retail sales in the U.S. are up almost 11% when compared to the 2019 holiday period.
That number is even bigger when looking at e-commerce sales, which are up 11% compared to 2020 and 61% compared to 2019. As a result, online sales were almost 21% of all retail sales in 2021, according to the report.
In a statement, Steve Sadove, the senior adviser for Mastercard, said that many Americans got their shopping done early this year, possibly due to supply issues.
"Shoppers were eager to secure their gifts ahead of the retail rush, with conversations surrounding supply chain and labor supply issues sending consumers online and to stores in droves," Sadove said.
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Shoppers weren't the only ones with eager intentions this year either as retailers placed merchandise orders ahead of time, trying to head off other bottlenecks, The New York Times reported.
Delivery companies also prepared for a busy season after being hit with a mass of packages last year, the Times reported.
According to ShipMatrix, nearly all packages delivered this year by UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service arrived on time or with minor delays.
