Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, which comprised a majority of the holiday season, US retail sales were up 7.6%, as price-conscious customers hunted deals among steep discounts, according to a new Mastercard report released Monday.

The rise in sales beat Mastercard’s forecast of 7.1% growth which it had made in September, when it anticipated consumers would shift their holiday buying into October, in search of early deals.

The retail sales growth this year was, however, off from last year’s 8.5% increase, as consumers were battered by record inflation, rising interest rates, and a threat of a broader economic recession.

To attempt to counter those forces, retailers, including Walmart Inc, and Amazon.com Inc offered massive discounts over the holiday season, to spur consumer purchasing and move excess stock, bringing inventories back to normal levels.

Those discounts drove strong demand for everything from electronics to toys, over the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber-Monday.

Despite the strong demand however, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse report, electronics sales fell 5.3% over the broader, almost two-month period.

However sales in the Apparel and Restaurant categories were up 4.4% and 15.1% respectively, which boosted the overall retail sales figures.

Online sales rose 10.6% during the period, which was only slightly less than the 11% rise seen last year.

Over the Cyber-Week period, total retail sales were up roughly 11%, according to a separate Mastercard SpendingPulse report in late November.

Mastercard SpendingPulse reports measure all retail sales, in-store and online, performed by all forms of payment, excluding automotive sales.