NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements. The group has forecast that U.S. holiday sales will rise 3% to 4% for November through December, compared with a 5.4% growth of a year ago. For the holiday 2021 season, sales for the two-month period surged 12.7%. Many retailers had already ordered fewer goods for this holiday season and have pushed holiday sales earlier in October than last year to help shoppers spread out their spending. But retailers said that many shoppers will be focusing more on deals and will likely wait until the last minute.

---

Persons: Brian Cornell, There’s, ”, Marc Metrick, Kohl's, Barbara Lindquist, That's, Lindquist, she’ll, “, Sensormatic, Marshal Cohen, ” Cohen, ‘, Anne Organizations: —, Shoppers, Walmart, Saks Fifth, Saks, National Retail Federation, Adobe Analytics, Adobe, Solutions Locations: Hawthorne Woods , Illinois, Panama, U.S