Supply Chain

Even the post-turkey coma couldn’t keep a good shopper down last night as millions of people across the country lined the sidewalks late Thursday night and by midnight on Black Friday to stock up on discounted toys, laptops, tablets, apparel, and more.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, up to 147 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a slight decrease from the 152 million who planned to do so last year.

With retailers providing increasingly creative ways for gift cards to be personalized and delivered, NRF’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 5.9 percent in November despite the temporary closure of some ports by super-storm Sandy, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by NRF and Hackett Associates.

The National Retail Federation announced today that Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart U.S. will keynote Retail’s BIG Show, January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

Consumers are prepared for a holly, jolly holiday season, though it’s evident most will take a conservative approach with their gift-giving budgets. According to NRF’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average holiday shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, up slightly from the $740.57 they actually spent last year.

Tempered by political and fiscal uncertainties but supported by signs of improvement in consumer confidence, holiday sales this year will increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion. NRF’s 2012 holiday forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent. Actual holiday sales in 2011 grew 5.6 percent.

This Halloween, trick-or-treaters, party-goers and pampered pets will be dressing up in traditional spooky style with pumpkin, princess, witch and vampire costumes taking the top spots in NRF’s 2012 Top Costumes survey conducted by BIGinsight.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 8.5 percent in September compared with the same month last year, and strong increases are expected into the holiday season despite talk of a possible strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by NRF and Hackett Associates.

NRF urged labor and management to return to the table in negotiations for a new East Coast and Gulf Coast longshoremen’s contract, saying retailers heading into the crucial holiday season will be forced to divert cargo elsewhere in a matter of days.

NRF said the Securities and Exchange Commission had responded to some retail industry concerns about new regulations requiring publicly traded companies to determine whether their products contain “conflict” minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but that it was too soon to determine the full impact of the regulations on retailers.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 6.3 percent in August compared with the same month last year, and 2012 should show an increase of 4.8 percent over last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by NRF and Hackett Associates.

The National Retail Federation and its National Council of Chain Restaurants division joined a coalition of manufacturers, shippers and transportation providers today to file an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals opposing new federal trucking regulations on drivers’ hours-of-service, stating the regulations were arbitrary and capricious.

NRF/BIGinsight survey finds consumers will spend more on school and college as consumers replenish children's needs and more children enter school.

The National Retail Federation today called on labor and management officials at the East and Gulf Coast ports to continue contract negotiations in order to avoid any potential supply chain disruption, delay or stoppage, which could stifle global commerce and jeopardize the fragile U.S. economic recovery.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 4.8 percent in June compared with the same month last year, and year-over-year increases are expected to continue into the holiday season shipping cycle, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by NRF and Hackett Associates.