Why amazon jumped ?!Christmas is over, Kwanzaa is just beginning, Hanukkah is just past its midpoint, and retailers are beginning to take stock of their performance during the holiday season. So far, one of the big takeaways this year is that consumers rushed to e-commerce sites to lock down early and last-minute gifts.
Between Nov. 1 and Christmas Eve, U.S. retail sales climbed 3.4% year over year, according to newly released data compiled by Mastercard (NYSE: MA) SpendingPulse. A breakdown shows that online shopping generated the majority of those gains, as e-commerce sales soared 18.8% during the period, compared to a 1.2% increase at brick-and-mortar stores, according to the report. Digital sales accounted for 14.6% of the total retail sales (a new all-time high).
One of the biggest beneficiaries of that trend was no doubt Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), and its stock is up more than 4% on the news that shoppers flocked to its platform in record numbers this holiday season.
