Reply #4: Found this which adds a bit more detail

[Roland99]

http://www.idexonline.com/

SpendingPulse, by MasterCard Advisors of MasterCard International, found that during the same period online and store purchases of jewelry fell back 4.6 percent compared to last year.

These numbers suppress the National Retail Federation holiday prediction of a 6 percent increase in total holiday retail sales to $439 billion and contrasts IDEX Online Research prediction of 3 – 4 percent increase in jewelry sales.

One possible reason for the difference is that SpendingPulse counts gift card sales when purchased, while the NRF does so when the cards are redeemed. Unlike online purchases, which are almost always made with credit cards, store sales include check and cash purchases too, which are not counted by MasterCard.