With Halloween behind us, our focus can officially shift to the holiday gift giving (and buying) season. The National Retail Federation expects total retail sales in November and December to increase 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion. The online sales portion is forecast to increase nearly 10 percent over last year to as much as $117 billion. Spending includes gifts for others, self-spending, food, flowers, decorations and greeting cards for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
