Mastercard SpendingPulse, which provides insights into overall retail spending trends across all payment types, including cash and check, reported a 5.1 per cent holiday sales increase to over $850 billion this year – the strongest rate since 2012. The research firm reviewed holiday shopping from November 1 through December 24.

Led in part by a surge in home improvement spending, this season’s holiday retail sales were at their highest in six years. Online shopping increased 19.1 per cent over last year. The expenditure on home improvement was recorded at 9 per cent. Sales in the home furniture and furnishings category also increased by 2.3 per cent.

However, sales in electronics and appliances declined by 0.7 per cent. Department stores sales also slipped by 1.3 per cent following two years of growth below 2 per cent. Online sales growth for department stores, however, increased by 10.2 per cent.