The National Retail Federation said Tuesday (November 27th) that the holiday shopping season has gotten off to a “very strong” start, with consumer spending boosted by a better economy and retailers’ investments in online services, including letting people buy online and pick up their items at the store.

A spokesman for the nation’s largest retail trade group said sales were strong over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which included Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and that it now expects sales for November and December to be at the high end of its earlier forecast of being up 4.3 percent to 4.8 percent over last year.