US retailers likely to just meet holiday sales forecasts: experts

US consumers have not turned out in force for the final shopping days before Christmas, suggesting that traditional retailers will just meet industry sales forecasts in a season marked by deep discounts and growing encroachment from online rivals led by Amazon.com Inc.

Super Saturday - the last pre-Christmas Saturday, which fell on Dec. 20 this year - failed to make up for spotty performance this season. That included a disappointing Black Friday, the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday that is typically one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

"The past weekend will not save this holiday season," said Craig Johnson, president of the retail and consumer product-oriented private equity fund Customer Growth Partners. "But combined with online sales, it would certainly save the year from being a dismal one."    

Johnson said if sales hold up in the next few days and the week after Christmas, retailers may finish close to his company's November and December forecast of 3.4 percent growth in store and online sales. He estimates that Super Saturday weekend sales, which include store and online, rose 2.5 percent to $42 billion this year.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the leading industry trade body, forecast a 4.1 percent rise in holiday sales this year, including online and store sales. The NRF is hoping to meet its expectations amid falling gasoline prices, lower US unemployment and consumer spending which showed signs of increasing during the first two weeks of December.

Promotions heated up in the past five days but that did not boost store traffic materially, said Keith Jelinek, senior managing director of FTI Consulting.

Most retailers offered an additional 20 to 30 percent off on top of 30 to 40 percent discounts on a wide range of products, Reuters found during a series of visits to three dozen stores in Chicago over the weekend.

Best-sellers during the season included Apple Inc's iPhone 6, toys based on the Walt Disney Co animated movie "Frozen," and winter clothing such as coats from retailers like Macy's Inc after a cold spell last month.

Home appliances including mixers, coffee makers and food processors from chains like Home Depot Inc, Lowe's Companies Inc, JC Penney Co Inc and Target Corp were also particularly popular, industry-watchers said.