Retail Sales Slip in December and Full Year ‘09 - Update
According to the December 2009 Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. retail and food service sales dipped 0.3%, from a revised figure of $353.9 billion to $353 billion. U.S. retail and food service sales have been in a seesaw pattern in recent months, with sales falling 1.5% in September and 0.2% in July, but rising 1.8% in November, 1.4% in October and 2.7% in August.
Total sales for the 12 months of 2009 were $4.14 billion, a 6.2% drop from $4.41 billion during the 12 months of 2008. However, December 2009 sales were 5.9% higher than $335 billion in December 2008. Of the 13 separate primary retail and food service sectors tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau, eight reported sales decreases and five reported sales increases.
Sales fluctuations in both directions were extremely modest for the month. Furniture and home furnishings retailers had the biggest decrease with 2.5%. Decreases in other categories were below 1%.
For the second month in a row, the most dramatic improvement was reported by gasoline station retailers, with a 2.8% increase. Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores reported a 1.6% increase, and non-store retailers reported a 1.4% increase. Other increases were below 1%.
December Sales Decline Despite Improved Holiday Sales
Interestingly, December 2009 sales slightly dropped despite two recent reports indicating that chain store and online sales improved during the 2009 holiday sales season. According to the Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman-Sachs, chain store sales grew 2.8% during December 2009.
In addition, digital marketing firm comScore reports that during the 63-day holiday shopping period between November 1 and December 31, 2009, U.S. consumers spent $29.1 billion online. This marked a 4% increase from $27.9 billion U.S. consumers spent online during the equivalent period in 2008.
While comScore’s research tracks November as well as December 2009, the firm also reported that December 19-20, 2009, featured a strong 13% growth rate as online sales rose from $677 million during the final weekend before Christmas 2008 to $767 million. Other strong e-commerce sales figures from December include a year-over-year e-commerce sales growth rate of 6% for the full week ending December 20, 2009, as it grew from $4.5 billion to a one-week sales record of roughly $4.8 billion in online spending. Tuesday, December 15, 2009 set an all-time single-day record for e-commerce sales with $913 million, and each day from Monday, December 14 through Thursday December 17 saw at least $800 million in online spending.
December Consumer Spending Index Drops
The December 2009 Deloitte Consumer Spending Index supports the Census Bureau’s finding of decreased sales for the month. Following six straight months of growth, the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index dropped slightly in December 2009 due to the impact of rising energy prices on real consumer wages. The Index dropped 0.6%, from an adjusted score of 4.66% in November 2009 (which marked a five-year high) to 4.63%.
The Index, which attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, is still near its five-year high and is well above its recent low point of 3.07% in October 2007.