Although the U.S. Commerce Department’s report featured an April-to-May dip in retail sales, findings from Retail Dive point otherwise. With a 6.4% jump month-over-month, US retail sales have soared to 22.9% year-over-year.
“I think that’s the real story — not slowing growth, but rather, a sustained strong level, especially since the past two months didn’t benefit from stimulus,” said Ted Rossman, CreditCards.com Senior Industry Analyst.
Growth over the past few months has been steady and continuous for retail’s revival. Brick-and-mortar has experienced its own strength, and now the physical element of shopping has become more crucial than ever before.
“Notably, non-store penetration is around about where it was before the pandemic in January and February of 2020. This does nothing to lessen the importance of online – nor to deny that it has grown strongly during the pandemic — but it does underscore that many of the prognostications that the channel would dominate retail and destroy physical shopping have fallen very wide of the mark,” said Neil Saunders, GlobalData Managing Director.
For May, apparel sales skyrocketed to 200% year-over-year, up 13.1% from 2019. Home goods continues to escalate as well, rising 69.6% year over year and 21% from 2019. Non-store sales (mostly e-commerce) has seen less growth throughout the the past few months, rising just 3.4% in May year-over-year (compared to a 32% jump in May 2020 vs 2019).
Now that we are approaching a post-pandemic setting, regulations such as mask procedures and social distancing guidelines have lessened. These factors are directly benefiting brick-and-mortar stores, and its likely this sector will continue to accelerate for the foreseeable future.
Source: Monthly Retail Sales – Retail Dive, US Commerce Department Report
Photo Credit: Freepik
