July Retail Sales Saw Uptick; August Predictions

U.S. retail sales in July posted a 4.5 percent increase, according to ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate, which follows general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby and books markets.In addition, ShopperTrak report

April 6, 2018

In addition, ShopperTrak reported consumer foot traffic was flat for July following three consecutive months of declines.

"Our data shows retailers experienced a slight, somewhat unexpected spending uptick in sales and traffic performance in July—a month which is traditionally slower as consumers gear up for the August back-to-school spending rush," says Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. "It seems Mother Nature contributed to this positive performance as consumers visited various retail locations to purchase summer clothing, driving the apparel and accessories segmented store traffic up a strong 6.4 percent as compared to June."

For August, ShopperTrak is predicting a 3.5 percent increase in retail sales and a 1.4 percent decline on foot traffic for the back-to-school

season. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment is on the rise this month according to Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary index, which is reporting a 69.6 rating compared to 67.8 in July—the lowest reading since November.

"We expect August will fare very well as pent-up demand will drive back-to-school shopping, a spending period second only to the November/December holiday season," says Martin.

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