Christmas Eve brought overall sales to levels unseen since the 1980s

It is the observation of Mastercard Spending Pulse given in cash and credit card data. This holiday season was marked as dismal for retailers. Even though e-commerce became one of the bright and successful departments comparing to the whole unpleasant holiday business picture, shoppers started to purchase online at the end of December that caused such promising results. Still, overall e-commerce sales were in negative territory - down 2.3 percent. And the rush observed at the end of December couldn't save stores from double-digit sales declines across virtually every category. The high-end stores suffered more. Jewellery, handbags and other luxury items sat on shelves. According to the results through December 24th luxury was not as popular as last year. It was down minus 34.5 percent. Stripping out jewellery, sales dropped minus 21.2 percent. 

Dismal Christmas sales touched also one of the most popular Christmas gifts - clothing. Apparel results at specialty stores were down minus 19.7 percent. And one of the most surprising facts is that men replaced women as clotheshorses this season. Women's clothing interest was down minus 22.7 percent-while menswear results were better - down minus 14.3 percent. The whole Christmas holiday season situation will be clearer in the next six days of post-Christmas sales. And retailers' fortunes will depend on consumers' desire and opportunity to spend. How they buy will determine whether some stores have enough cash to survive through 2009.