New York (CNN Business) When you're stuck at home for a year, you're probably going to get bored of staring at the same old couch, and those creaks and quirks are going to start to drive you nuts. Mastercard MA Unsurprisingly, furniture and home improvement items were big sellers this holiday season, helping give retail sales a 3% boost during this year's expanded holiday shopping season, according to a report bySpendingPulse. Online shopping sales also grew a whopping 49% between October 11 and December 24, further emphasizing how the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped shopping habits. The longer-than-average holiday season, which kicked off with a delayed Amazon Prime Day , was marked by a number of retailers offering special deals and promotions to incentivize customers to make earlier purchases to guarantee on-time holiday deliveries.

Source: CNN December 27, 2020 17:26 UTC