Echoing other recent forecasts, Bain is expecting 3% nominal growth in U.S. retail sales this Holiday, the lowest since 2018, implying year-over-year real growth of just 1%, which would be the lowest in fourteen years. Total sales will reach nearly $915 billion, with 70% of the shopping earmarked for brick-and-mortar sales, while e-commerce and mail order make up the rest. E-commerce is still taking up the lion’s share of real growth, rising 13.3% in July and 11.6% nominally. Brick-and-mortar sales were flat in the month. As for store categories in ... Log in to view full article.