The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
NEW YORK, United States — A payment technology company says shoppers spent strongly to start the holiday season and then cooled off, but the overall pace is still stronger than a year ago.
First Data says overall spending, excluding gas, rose 6 percent from Nov. 1 through Monday, outpacing the 3.7 percent pace for the year-ago period. The company analyzes online and in-store payments across different forms of cards from 1.3 million merchants.
Retail spending, which excludes grocery stores, restaurants, auto parts merchants and gas stations, rose 5.4 percent, more than doubling last year's retail growth rate of 2 percent. First Data says the buying was helped by cooler weather, higher consumer confidence and low employment.
E-commerce sales growth continued to outpace brick-and-mortar growth, at 10.5 percent compared with 3.9 percent for stores.
From analysis of the global fashion and beauty industries to career and personal advice, BoF’s founder and CEO, Imran Amed, will be answering your questions on Sunday, February 18, 2024 during London Fashion Week.
The State of Fashion 2024 breaks down the 10 themes that will define the industry in the year ahead.
Imran Amed reviews the most important fashion stories of the year and shares his predictions on what this means for the industry in 2024.
After three days of inspiring talks, guests closed out BoF’s gathering for big thinkers with a black tie gala followed by an intimate performance from Rita Ora — guest starring Billy Porter.