A report has revealed that retailers across US posted a much better performance during the 2009 Holiday shopping season as compared to last year, with sales figures, as tracked by MasterCard Advisors unit SpendingPulse, recorded a 3.6% rise.

The numbers shared by SpendingPulse are minus gasoline and automobile sales, and reflect that activity that the agency tracks in networks of MasterCard payments, in addition to estimates for other forums of payment like cash and checks.

The growth was mainly on the back of a 15.5% rise in online purchases, in addition to a modest recovery in the areas of luxury spending and women's clothing items. A drop in sales was posted by retailers for the year 2008, which was the worst performance recorded over several years, as markets were hit by one of the worst global recessions ever.

"Last year the economy and consumer spending were in free fall. This year we're talking about an environment that has stabilized, that has seen a leveling off", said Kamalesh Rao, Director of economic research at Spending Pulse.

SpendingPulse has been keeping a record of holiday sales figures since 2002, and the period included in the report is from November 1 until Christmas Eve.