Retail Sales Up 7% from Sept. ‘09 - Update
According to the September 2010 Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey from the U.S.
Census Bureau, U.S. retail and food service sales
rose 0.6% [pdf] on a monthly basis and an impressive 7.3% on a yearly basis.
In September 2010, U.S. retail and food service sales totaled $367.7 billion, compared to $365.4 billion in September 2010 and $352.8 billion in September 2009. On a monthly basis, this is the third straight sales increase, which followed two straight sales decreases, which in turn followed a four-month streak of gradually slowing monthly U.S. retail and food service sales increases.
Non-store Retailers Continue Strong Annual Growth Patterns
Sales at auto and motor vehicle dealer sales were up 19% from September 2009, and sales at non-store retailers were up 14.4% from a year earlier. Sales at non-store retailers have been demonstrating a strong upward trend in recent months, rising 10.5% year-over-year in August 2010, compared to 12.6% in July 2010, 12.1% in June 2010 and 15.6% in May 2010.
Sales at gasoline stations rose about 3% from September 2009, breaking a six-month streak of dramatic year-over-year growth that peaked at 26.4% in March 2010.
All Sectors Report Annual Growth
Sales in all 13 separate primary retail and food service sectors tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau rose on an annual basis. In addition, 11 of 13 reported month-over-month sales increases, with one sector reporting a decrease and one reporting flat sales, although all monthly changes were moderate.
The most significant monthly sales increase on a percentage basis was a 1.6% hike at motor vehicle and parts retailers. Sales at clothing and clothing accessories retailers dropped 0.2%. General merchandise stores reported flat monthly sales growth.
Spending Pulse Shows Tepid Growth
The
MasterCard Advisors Spending Pulse, a macroeconomic sales report tracking national retail and service sales, shows that in September 2010,
most categories recorded a slight year-over-year uptick compared to the year-over-year performance of the prior month. MasterCard Advisors says this demonstrates a consumer tendency toward spending selectively and leaning towards non-discretionary rather than discretionary items.
Apparel Builds on August Gain
For the second consecutive month, total U.S. apparel sales posted a year-over-year gain, up 3.8%, following the 2.6% gain in August 2010. This was the year's second largest year-over-year gain in the sector, which has now posted increases in six out of nine months year-to-date.
As they did in August, the children's and family segments drove the growth in this category, posting year-over-year increases of 2.3% and 7.9%, respectively. Footwear was up 0.7%, slightly more modest than August's 0.9% increase. Similarly to August, the men's and women's categories were the only ones that lost ground, with Women's decreasing 0.2%, a smaller decline than the August drop, and men's apparel was down 3.4% year-over-year.
The consumer electronics and appliances category recorded its fourth consecutive month of year-over-year gains, a run that started in June 2010 after a brief respite in May 2010. September's increase was 4.3% year-over-year, surpassing the 3.5% increase seen in August.
Most of the growth in September occurred in the $500 to $1,000 price range as well as the less than $25 price range. The consumer electronics sub-category carried much of this sector's growth, up 4.7%, while the appliance category took a step back from August's 9.4% increase, up 2.4% year-over-year in September.
Luxury Sector Stumbles
SpendingPulse's Luxury ex-Jewelry Index, which includes high-end sales in the restaurant, food stores, department store and general apparel categories, fell by 5.4% year-over-year in September. This was the sector's second consecutive month of year-over-year decreases. September marks the end of easy year-over-year comparisons, which along with the current difficult economic environment, could account for weakness in this category, despite the generally better performance of the financial markets in September.
Apparel Drives E-commerce Growth
E-commerce sales posted a year-over-year growth rate slightly higher than that of August 2010, up 7.8%, with the apparel sub-category leading the way with an increase of 13.4%, and all sub-categories except jewelry being comfortably in positive territory.
Similar to August 2010, the entire channel was helped in September 2010 by double-digit growth in a number of subsectors, namely total Apparel, children's apparel and family apparel. E-commerce footwear sales were up a robust 9% year-over-year and electronics e-commerce sales were up a solid 7.6%. Jewelry dipped 5.9%, September being the only month this year to record negative growth in this sub-category.
