US retailers are&nbsp;expected&nbsp;to ring up record sales on Super&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;this year, as fewer&nbsp;days than usual between Thanksgiving and&nbsp;Christmas&nbsp;have squeezed shoppers to finish their purchases.

In recent years, the&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;before&nbsp;Christmas&nbsp;has seen a late surge in shopper traffic. With retailers maintaining deep discounts late into the holiday&nbsp;season, total sales on Super&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;have edged closer to Black Friday, the&nbsp;day&nbsp;after Thanksgiving which traditionally kicks off the season in November.

Many retail consultants and analysts estimate the surge will bump Super&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;into the&nbsp;biggest&nbsp;shopping&nbsp;day&nbsp;this year.

Craig Johnson, president at retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners, expects people to spend $34 billion this year on Super&nbsp;Saturday. These estimates include in-store and online purchases but exclude sales generated at gas stations, restaurants, and automobile dealers. In comparison, Black Friday&nbsp;generated $31.5 billion in sales, he said.

"Consumer demand remains strong," Johnson said. "While mall traffic is weak, those that are going to stores are buying more."

Despite slowing global growth,&nbsp;US&nbsp;consumer spending is benefiting from wage growth and a strong labor market, retail consultants and analysts said.

Also, prices have remained steady instead of rising as widely&nbsp;expected, they said, which has spurred spending. According to an analysis, retailers including Walmart Inc and Amazon.com Inc&nbsp;held prices steady for many popular holiday&nbsp;products sold online despite pressure from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-heaps-another-5-tariff-on-chinese-goods-in-latest-tit-for-tat-escalation-245211">US&nbsp;tariffs</a> on Chinese imports.

Many retailers are responding to the late surge in spending by keeping stores open for longer in the&nbsp;days&nbsp;before&nbsp;Christmas. They have also added more staff in stores this year, reversing a trend that saw more workers being added to warehouses to ship online orders.

With store shoppers becoming more deliberate about their purchases, retailers' investments in improving the customer experience is resulting in stronger sales, analysts said.

"The shoppers that are coming into the store during the holidays want the personal touch...otherwise they'd be online," said Andrew Challenger, vice president at placement firm <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-%26-economy/us-job-growth-seen-picking-up-unemployment-rate-falling-164155">Challenger, Gray &amp;&nbsp;Christmas&nbsp;Inc</a>. "They want somebody to guide them through the inventory and in some ways help them select the right products at the right prices," he said.

Target said it is giving employees in stores a serious bump in hours, investing an extra $50 million into the effort. Similarly, Walmart's holiday&nbsp;strategy this year has also focused on customer service improvements.

For instance, its Check Out With Me feature, which allows; shoppers paying by credit card to skip out on long lines by having employees equipped with cellular devices and bluetooth printers check them out anywhere in the store, is available in all big stores.

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-cyber-monday-sales-to-hit-record-92-billion-265856">National Retail Federation</a> estimates&nbsp;US&nbsp;holiday&nbsp;retail sales in November and December will increase between 3.8 per cent&nbsp;and 4.2 per cent&nbsp;over 2018, for a total of $727.9 billion to $730.7 billion. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.7 per cent&nbsp;over the past five years .

US retailers are expected to ring up record sales on Super Saturday this year, as fewer days than usual between Thanksgiving and Christmas have squeezed shoppers to finish their purchases.

US retailers are expected to ring up record sales on Super Saturday this year, as fewer days than usual between Thanksgiving and Christmas have squeezed shoppers to finish their purchases. In recent years, the Saturday before Christmas has seen a late surge in shopper traffic. With retailers maintaining deep discounts late into the holiday season, total sales on Super Saturday have edged closer to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which traditionally kicks off the season in November. Many retail consultants and analysts estimate the surge will bump Super Saturday into the biggest shopping day this year. Craig Johnson, president at retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners, expects people to spend $34 billion this year on Super Saturday. These estimates include in-store and online purchases but exclude sales generated at gas stations, restaurants, and automobile dealers. In comparison, Black Friday generated $31.5 billion in sales, he said. "Consumer demand remains strong," Johnson said. "While mall traffic is weak, those that are going to stores are buying more." Despite slowing global growth, US consumer spending is benefiting from wage growth and a strong labor market, retail consultants and analysts said. Also, prices have remained steady instead of rising as widely expected, they said, which has spurred spending. According to an analysis, retailers including Walmart Inc and Amazon.com Inc held prices steady for many popular holiday products sold online despite pressure from US tariffs on Chinese imports. Many retailers are responding to the late surge in spending by keeping stores open for longer in the days before Christmas. They have also added more staff in stores this year, reversing a trend that saw more workers being added to warehouses to ship online orders. With store shoppers becoming more deliberate about their purchases, retailers' investments in improving the customer experience is resulting in stronger sales, analysts said. "The shoppers that are coming into the store during the holidays want the personal touch...otherwise they'd be online," said Andrew Challenger, vice president at placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "They want somebody to guide them through the inventory and in some ways help them select the right products at the right prices," he said. Target said it is giving employees in stores a serious bump in hours, investing an extra $50 million into the effort. Similarly, Walmart's holiday strategy this year has also focused on customer service improvements. For instance, its Check Out With Me feature, which allows; shoppers paying by credit card to skip out on long lines by having employees equipped with cellular devices and bluetooth printers check them out anywhere in the store, is available in all big stores. The National Retail Federation estimates US holiday retail sales in November and December will increase between 3.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent over 2018, for a total of $727.9 billion to $730.7 billion. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.7 per cent over the past five years .

Saturday before Christmas expected to be the biggest US shopping day of 2019

Instead of waging a trade war with China, the United States should drop its win-at-all-costs mentality and consider the interests of its people as well as the global community, the official People's Daily said an editorial on Saturday.

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/alibaba-is-the-force-behind-hit-chinese-communist-party-app-report-198138">Chinese Communist Party</a>'s newspaper urged the United States to cancel all tariffs on Chinese goods, saying the only way to resolve trade issues was through "equal dialogue".

Hopes that the two sides can rekindle negotiations were raised in the run-up to a meeting next week between <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-china-rekindle-trade-talks-ahead-of-donald-trump-xi-jinping-g20-meeting-228545">President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Donald Trump</a> in Japan, where they will both attend a Group of 20 summits.

The Office of the US Trade Representative is holding seven days of hearings from manufacturers and other businesses likely to be affected by a new round of tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports proposed by US President Donald Trump.

The People's Daily said all previous hearings had shown "overwhelming" opposition to tariff increases from all walks of life, but it had made no difference.

"It seems that some people in the United States are waving the tariff stick to strengthen their so-called 'industrial competitive advantage'," it said.

"They do not consider public opinion, do not consider national conditions, and do not take the international economic order into account. They just want the renown as 'winners' but cannot understand the fact that they basically cannot win."

The US National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Friday that the proposed tariff extension on Chinese goods, including cellphones and computers, could cost US consumers an additional $12.2 billion each year.

Instead of waging a trade war with China, the United States should drop its win-at-all-costs mentality and consider the interests of its people as well as the global community, the official People's Daily said an editorial on Saturday.

Instead of waging a trade war with China, the United States should drop its win-at-all-costs mentality and consider the interests of its people as well as the global community, the official People's Daily said an editorial on Saturday. The Chinese Communist Party's newspaper urged the United States to cancel all tariffs on Chinese goods, saying the only way to resolve trade issues was through "equal dialogue". Hopes that the two sides can rekindle negotiations were raised in the run-up to a meeting next week between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Donald Trump in Japan, where they will both attend a Group of 20 summits. The Office of the US Trade Representative is holding seven days of hearings from manufacturers and other businesses likely to be affected by a new round of tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports proposed by US President Donald Trump. The People's Daily said all previous hearings had shown "overwhelming" opposition to tariff increases from all walks of life, but it had made no difference. "It seems that some people in the United States are waving the tariff stick to strengthen their so-called 'industrial competitive advantage'," it said. "They do not consider public opinion, do not consider national conditions, and do not take the international economic order into account. They just want the renown as 'winners' but cannot understand the fact that they basically cannot win." The US National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Friday that the proposed tariff extension on Chinese goods, including cellphones and computers, could cost US consumers an additional $12.2 billion each year.

China state media urges United States to drop win-at-all-costs trade stance

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Saturday before Christmas expected to be the biggest US shopping day of 2019

China state media urges United States to drop win-at-all-costs trade stance