Retailers say the sales tax holiday weekend that just ended probably produced higher sales and traffic than in previous years, proving to be a crucial crutch to get them through an otherwise quiet shopping period.

At Percy’s, a television and appliance store in Worcester, vice president of sales Alan Lavine said sales this past weekend exceeded the previous year’s tax holiday by a considerable amount — somewhere in the high single digits. Lavine also said customers weren’t being indulgent, rather, they were buying basic goods such as appliances they would use for a long time.