SpendingPulse, a macro-economic report tracking national retail and service sales, today provided summary results for performance of specific U.S. retail industries in August, 2010. This month, sales in most categories recorded a slight year-over-year uptick compared to the year-over-year performance of the prior month. Nevertheless, the tendency has been more towards remaining stable and flat rather than towards growth.
Michael McNamara, VP for research and analysis for SpendingPulse, observes, “Categories such as apparel and electronics appear to have been helped by the back-to-school season, which tends to peak in August, although some spending in apparel can be pushed back into September as parents delay purchasing fall and winter clothing until cooler weather conditions set in.
Total U.S. Apparel Sales was back in positive territory in August, up 2.6% year-over-year, following July’s 1.1% decrease. This category, on a year-over-year basis, has been up 5 out of 8 months this year. All sub-sectors except for Women’s Apparel and Men’s Apparel posted increases, with the Children’s category up a solid 8.4% year-over-year, and Family Apparel up 4.1%. Footwear posted a modest increase of 0.9%. Following July’s sharp decline, Men’s Apparel was down only 1.9% in August, while Women’s Apparel, down 1.9% in July, slipped a little further in August, declining 2.7% year-over-year.
eCommerce sales growth slowed in August to +7.2%, which although well into positive territory, was the smallest year-over-year increase in 2010. The channel was helped by double digit growth in several subsectors, namely Total Apparel, Children’s Apparel, Family Apparel and Footwear. Online sales by Department Stores returned to posting a solid gain in August following July’s slip into negative territory.
