Friday, February 4, 2011

SpendingPulse January 2011 Retail Report: General Momentum from Q4 2010 Continues



For the Full Retail Year Sectors That Are Up Outnumber Those That Are Down By Three to One

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Advisors:
“With gasoline prices up about 14% over prices a year ago, that means less disposable income in consumers’ wallets. They are more likely to consolidate trips to the mall and shop closer to home.”
SpendingPulse™
 
Data Source:
A macroeconomic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check. MasterCard SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard financial performance. SpendingPulse is provided by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide.
 
MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and services sales, today provided summary results for performance of specific U.S. retail industries in January, 2011. The month recorded strong growth across most categories, continuing the positive performance from Q4 2010, albeit at a slightly slower pace.
With the January closing of the retail year, sectors that were up for the year outnumbered those that were down by a ratio of three to one. However, even among those which were up for the year, about half have yet to reach their pre-recession peak levels of 2006 and 2007.
Michael McNamara, Vice President, Research and Analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, observes, “A combination of rising consumer demand and strong pricing continued to drive retail sales in January. Although less robust, the trends we observed were similar to those recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010. Most sectors continued to post positive year-over-year results during the month despite consumers taking a pause in spending and repeated snow storms affecting the East Coast.”
Mr. McNamara also notes that there were varied factors influencing January sales, including the continuing high unemployment rate, rising prices such as fuel costs, increases in consumer confidence and continuing improvements in the financial markets. He observed, “With gasoline prices up about 14% over prices a year ago, that means less disposable income in consumers’ wallets. They are more likely to consolidate trips to the mall and shop closer to home.”
In terms of sectors, January, 2011 had notable strengths and weaknesses. Here are some specifics:
Posting their sixth consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth, Total Apparel sales continued to do well in January albeit at a slightly lower growth rate than the very robust Q4 2010 rate. All sub-sectors of Apparel posted solid year-over-year increases, the most notable of which came from the Family (Teen) and Men’s categories, respectively increasing 12.8% and 8.1% year-over-year.
The Electronics and Appliances sector posted a year-over-year decline of 3.8% in January following a modest year-over-year increase recorded in December. The Consumer Electronics sub-category declined by 3.3% and the Appliance sub-category fell sharply by 6.4%, its fourth consecutive year-over-year monthly decline.
e-Commerce continued to gain share at a very steady rate, posting double digit year-over-year increases for the third consecutive month, growing 12%. Online Total Apparel as a sub-category of eCommerce showed slightly slower year-over-year growth compared to Q4 2010, but a strong 15% growth over January 2010. With the exception of women’s clothing, all apparel sub-sectors posted double digit growth, but again, lower than what was posted in December 2010. Jewelry eCommerce fell into negative territory in January, reversing a solid December 2010. However, Electronics eCommerce was up year over year by 6.1%.
The SpendingPulse Luxury Index, which measures sales at high-end restaurants, food stores, department stores and general apparel categories, posted a strong year-over-year growth of 6.1%, the second highest growth rate since May 2010.
About MasterCard Advisors
MasterCard Advisors provides payments consulting, information, analytics, and customized services to financial institutions and their merchant partners worldwide. Addressing complex challenges in strategy, marketing, risk, and operations, MasterCard Advisors helps clients maximize the value of their payments businesses. As the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide, MasterCard Advisors is uniquely qualified to provide clients with insights and solutions that drive tangible impact and financial gain. For more information, go to www.mastercardadvisors.com.
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

Contacts

Meir Kahtan Public Relations, LLC
Meir Kahtan, +1-212-575-8188
mkahtan@rcn.com
or
MasterCard Worldwide
Naya Larsson, +1-914-249-3916
naya_larsson@mastercard.com
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