50% is unbelievably high. The numbers are just under 20% (18.8% of retail sales), says http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=1234 . Jewelry stores are the highest, and they make under 30% of their sales during November and December.
If evenly distributed, then the average sales for 2/12 months would be 17% of yearly sales.
While still quite significant, it's not as enormous a disparity as you thought.
That's good to hear. My numbers were from some retailers I knew. Their biz must have been pretty skewed towards the holiday. Thanks for digging out that report!
You may have heard them say "profit", and not "sales."
Figure that those two months are 10% higher sales than the rest of the year (19%-17%=2%, and 2/16=12.5%), and that expenses are averaged out over the year while revenue is more seasonal.
If normal profit is 5%, then 10 months at 5% and two months at 15% gives 30/(50+30) = 40% of the profit is made during November/December.
Or, if it's break-even during 10 months, with $100 million in revenue and expenses, while during November/December it's $101 million in revenue and $100 million in expenses, then the entire yearly profit of $2 million is made during those two months. Although that's only 4/1200 = 0.3% of gross.
If evenly distributed, then the average sales for 2/12 months would be 17% of yearly sales.
While still quite significant, it's not as enormous a disparity as you thought.