MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse alluded that most retail sectors posted positive year-over-year growth in October. From a sector-by-sector point of view, categories continued to stabilize, building strength onto the more tepid growth seen in previous months.
“Overall, October showed a noticeable improvement compared to the same month last year,” said Michael McNamara, VP, research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. “ECommerce continued to post solid year-over-year growth, similar to the strong performance in September.
Year-over-year overall apparel sales were up a sharp 8.2%, building on the 3.8% gain in September. Within the sector, women’s apparel saw a 5.3% year-over-year gain. Footwear was up a very respectable 5.9%, with Men’s Apparel the only category to lose ground, down 0.3%, nonetheless milder than September’s 3.4% year-over-year decline.
In the eCommerce sector, sales posted a year-over-year growth rate on par with those of August and September. With an increase of 7.9%, the overall sector is up slightly higher than September’s year-over-year gain of 7.8%, and August’s 7.2% increase. The biggest gainers were the Apparel sub-category, which was up 16.7% particularly the Family category, up 25.8%; and Footwear, up 17.8%.
Notably, Electronics eCommerce sales increased only 0.2%, and Department Stores in the online channel saw growth of only 1.4%, taking a break from the bigger gains seen from December 2009 through June 2010.
