1.0EcommerceByteshttps://www.ecommercebytes.comIna Steinerhttps://www.ecommercebytes.com/author/ina-steiner/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="GKEpqlWjJI"><a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2015/01/15/dont-assume-decembers-retail-numbers-disappoint/">Don’t Assume December’s Retail Numbers Disappoint</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2015/01/15/dont-assume-decembers-retail-numbers-disappoint/embed/#?secret=GKEpqlWjJI" width="600" height="338" title="“Don’t Assume December’s Retail Numbers Disappoint” — EcommerceBytes" data-secret="GKEpqlWjJI" 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> On the face of it, government data suggests retail sales were down in December – but take a closer look, and it may not be the bad news it appears. (Keep in mind these are not online sales figures.) The US Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for […]