Santas shopped the sales at Target, resulting in a better-than-expected holiday bump

Heavy promotion and sales drew people into Target stores over the holidays, boosting comparable sales by 2% as people bought apparel and toys to put under the tree.

While not robust compared with past holiday seasons, it was a much better performance than in the August-to-October period. As a result, the Minneapolis-based retailer on Thursday raised its revenue guidance for the seasonal months from flat to an increase of 1.5%.

The National Retail Federation had predicted holiday sales would increase between 2.5% and 3.5%.

While not giving specifics, Target said it saw “a meaningful acceleration in discretionary categories” compared with its last quarter, especially apparel and toys and including beauty products.

“Our team delivered continued traffic growth and better-than-expected holiday-season performance, thanks to their focus on serving guests with an inspiring, easy, and joyous shopping experience,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said.

However, Target did not increase its profit guidance, indicating shoppers gravitated toward sales items.

Led by a record Black Friday and Cyber Monday, traffic to both Target’s physical and online stores increased 3%. Digital sales increased nearly 9%.

The figures are preliminary, and the retailer did not change its projected profit. The complete report will be released in March.

Target also announced some executive changes Thursday, including the retirement of Mark Schindele, executive vice president and chief stores officer. His successor will be Adrienne Costanzo, currently senior vice president of store operations.

Also effective Feb. 2, Brett Craig, executive vice president and chief information officer, will retire. Prat Vemana, currently chief digital and product officer, will take on the role of chief information and product officer as well.

Target also said Sarah Travis, currently senior vice president, Roundel and social commerce, will be promoted to chief digital and revenue officer.