The CTA, on CE Retail Holiday Sales, CES 2017 Tech Trends

With Black Friday already off to the races, the Consumer Technology Association’s chief economist, Shawn DuBravac, provided the CTA's view on the CE retail and etail holiday sales landscapes. The projections, offered Wed., Nov. 9, when the latest figures were laid bare for media at a NYC-held press conference, had overall retail holiday sales growing 3.8 percent, and electronics retailers’ overall sales dipping 2.9 percent, but the subset of online CE sales rising 16.4 percent – and CE sales transacted through mobile devices up a mind-bending 45.2 percent. However, overall consumer holiday spending on tech, said CTA, is expected to increase about 3.1 percent over 2015 results.

“Existing categories are strong, and emerging tech will be up in gift-giving. Online, led by mobile, defines the growth profile,” he remarked in explaining the numbers.