Sales, sales and more sales - 21 Nov 2011

In five weeks, the annual insane holiday shopping rush will be over, we'll be living on leftovers and looking forward to a new year. But that's still five weeks away and right now, we're spiraling headlong into said insane shopping crunch. There's lots to do, see, and buy before then, so let's get down to it, shall we? Oh, and we'll throw in a side of news for good measure.

Retail trade sales were up, Stats SA reported last week, despite economists expecting a drop year-on-year. Also showing an increase were wholesale trade sales as well as food and beverage income.

Absa has launched its new contactless payment facility; and Hirsch's has broken ground for its first store in Cape Town, while also celebrating the naming of Margaret Hirsch as South Africa's most influential women in retail.

This time next week, the international e-commerce community should be ringing the bells, er, tills, of Cyber Monday - may it be a lucrative one. To everyone else, happy shopping!