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Consumers say they will spend an average of $1,047.83 this holiday season, up 4 percent from the $1,007.24 they said they would spend last year, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Shoppers between the ages of 35 and 44 plan to spend the most at $1,158.63.

Retail sales in September were down 0.1 percent from August but up 4.5 percent year-over-year, according to NRF's calculations. The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

NRF welcomed the Trump administration’s delay of a scheduled October 15 tariff hike from 25 percent to 30 percent on $250 billion worth of goods from China.

Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to hit their highest level of the year again next month just before more tariffs take effect in December, according to the Global Port Tracker report from NRF and Hackett Associates.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will deliver the opening keynote at the NRF’s 109th annual convention in New York City in January.

NRF was disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case that could have established a reasonable, nationwide standard for evaluating website accessibility claims.

NRF expects this year's holiday retail sales to increase between 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent over 2018 to a total of between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion. The numbers, which exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, compare with an average annual increase of 3.7 percent over the previous five years

Members of Generation Z influence a significant amount of household purchases and enjoy spending their own money, according to the latest issue of the Consumer View report released by the National Retail Federation.

The NRF Foundation, the Arizona Retailers Association and the Center for the Future of Arizona announced that the Foundation’s RISE Up training and credentialing program has been approved by the Arizona Department of Education for use in high schools and career-and-technical education centers throughout the state.

U.S. consumers are looking to social media for Halloween costume and decoration ideas as spending is expected to reach a near-record amount this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.