1.0EcommerceByteshttps://www.ecommercebytes.comIna Steinerhttps://www.ecommercebytes.com/author/ina-steiner/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="VvlWtjibmC"><a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2014/01/17/nrf-notes-strong-holiday-sales-interesting-category-trends/">NRF Notes Strong Holiday Sales and Interesting Category Trends</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2014/01/17/nrf-notes-strong-holiday-sales-interesting-category-trends/embed/#?secret=VvlWtjibmC" width="600" height="338" title="“NRF Notes Strong Holiday Sales and Interesting Category Trends” — EcommerceBytes" data-secret="VvlWtjibmC" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> The National Retailer Federation (NRF) announced holiday sales figures (including both traditional retailers and ecommerce merchants) and also reported on annual sales growth of some key categories released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week that may hold some surprise at first glance. The NRF said December retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 4.6 […]