With the new year, many retailers are looking to re strategize and implement new policies that will help them see success in 2013. The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently released its retail industry expectations for the year, and moderate, but steady, growth is forecasted for businesses throughout the country.

In its report, the NRF stated that it anticipates retail sales will grow by 3.4 percent in 2013, which is below the 4.2 percent increase that happened in 2012. The association believes sales will be less this year due to consumers’ concerns about the nation’s economy and the impact from the fiscal cliff deal that was reached at the beginning of January. Other factors, such as national unemployment, the housing market, inflation and income growth will have an effect on the retail industry in the coming months, the organization noted.

“While it’s too early to know the full effect of higher payroll taxes, there’s no question that many consumers will feel some kind of impact from the change in their paychecks,” said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Overall we foresee some improvements in the second half of the year should the outlook for job creation and income growth improve.”

However, ecommerce retail sales are expected to grow significantly, as the NRF forecasts an increase of between 9 percent and 12 percent for 2013, when compared to the previous year. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, February 4th, 2013 at 5:06 am .