2009年1月17日
作者：Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller

2008年节假日零售业初步销售额已经出来，比预期的更差。对比2007年的数据，11月和12月的零售额下降了4.4%，比预计更低。随着2008年节假日的结束，我们将注意力转移到了新的一年。这个季度简讯的最后，还简单地讨论了对2009年的预估。同时，我们还给零售商提了一些建议，有关他们在困难的一年中，该考虑专注于哪些主要业务。

Preliminary sales results for the 2008 holiday season are in, and the news is even worse than expected. Retail sales for November and December dropped 4.4% versus 2007, well below forecasts. This figure is based on preliminary US Census Bureau estimates for November GAFO sales growth of -4.3% and December GAFS sales growth of -4.6% versus the same months last year. This is the bleakest holiday performance in 40 years of collecting data and the first time that growth has been negative during the holidays.With the 2008 holiday season over, we turn our attention to the new year. We close our final newsletter of the season with a brief discussion of what to expect in 2009. We also offer suggestions on some of the priorities retailers should consider as they head into what is sure to be a difficult year... or more.