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Seasonal splurge

Online sales to see big boost

Online shoppers could spend as much as $117 billion this holiday season.
Online shoppers could spend as much as $117 billion this holiday season.

Online holiday sales could increase as much as 10 percent this year, which means another seasonal spike in package deliveries is probably on the horizon.

The National Retail Federation predicts total sales in November and December will bring in $655.8 billion, up 3.6 percent from last year. Online and other “non-store” sales are expected to grow between 7-10 percent, reaching as much as $117 billion.

“All of the fundamentals are in a good place, giving strength to consumers and leading us to believe that this will be a very positive holiday season,” said Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and chief executive.

Holiday sales have been steadily increasing since the economic recovery began in 2009.

Shippers delivered 1.5 billion packages during the holidays in 2015 — which works out to five parcels per person in the United States, a study earlier this year found.

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