Hasta La Creative!

The final numbers are in, and the past holiday season was indeed one of the best since the last recession — even if everyone didn’t partake in the good fortune.

Sales rose 5.5 percent to $691.9 billion during November and December, the National Retail Federation said Friday. The results exclude spending on cars, gas and restaurants. E-commerce and other sales that occur outside stores jumped 11.5 percent.

“Whether they shopped in-store, online or on their phones, consumers were in the mood to spend, and retailers were there to offer them good value for their money,” Matthew Shay, chief executive officer of the NRF, said in a statement. Before the season began, the trade group had estimated growth of 3.6 percent to 4 percent.

Continue reading at AdAge.com