With Christmas around the corner, retailers are all too keen to recognize their growing competition for seasonal shopping: Several chain department stores have closed locations; Hanjin's bankruptcy may affect when some products make it to stores; some consumers may only bite if they know they're getting a deal and e-commerce champions like Amazon are a constant factor.

While all these factors seem dangerous to the retail sector, assessments by certain parties indicate good news. The National Retail Federation is expecting a 3.6% increase in sales in the last two months of the year, based on the trend that Christmas time retail sales have risen by more than 50% over the past 15 years; roughly one-fifth of yearly earnings. Furthermore, a study by PwC indicates this year's Christmas spending will reach its highest point since 2008.