July 07, 2011 09:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time
SpendingPulse June 2011 U.S. Retail Sector Report: Sales Continue May’s Mixed Picture with Some Sectors Gaining and Others Losing Momentum
Graduation and Wedding Season Helps Sustain Jewelry and Luxury Spending
PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Advisors:
“unfavorable weather and high gasoline prices appear to have helped e-commerce to its eighth consecutive month of double-digit growth.”
SpendingPulse™
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Data Source:
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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.
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MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and services sales, today provided summary results for the performance of specific U.S. retail industries in June 2011. The Luxury and Restaurant categories continued to add momentum to their performance in May, while overall year-over-year growth was supported by gasoline and grocery sales. Specialty Apparel showed gains as well while the Electronics and Appliances, Furniture and Furnishings and Department Stores sectors remained in negative territory.
Michael McNamara, Vice President, Research and Analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, noted the impact of a number of external factors. “As we move into the summer, discretionary spending tends to shift to vacation-related categories, usually reflected in Travel sales and particularly in Lodging, although we are seeing some weakness in those areas. At the same time, June is peak season for weddings and graduations, and this may have helped the continuing strong growth of both Luxury and Jewelry sectors. Specialty apparel did well in June, though the growth stats were to some extent helped by some easy year-over-year comparisons given that in April 2010, this sector started to record some weakness that lasted a few months. June 2011’s weaker sectors included Electronics, where continued pricing pressure and the lack of new products may have led to a sharp year-over-year decline and the Furniture and Furnishings category, which recorded its fifth consecutive monthly sales drop, likely reflecting the state of the housing market.”
Mr. McNamara noted that broad retail growth continued to be hampered by high gas prices albeit they are coming down from their early May highs, as well as high unemployment. Those factors may have been further exacerbated in May by exceptionally wet weather in some parts of the country. “On the other hand,” he said, “unfavorable weather and high gasoline prices appear to have helped e-commerce to its eighth consecutive month of double-digit growth.”
Here are a few details for some specific U.S. retail sectors for June 2011:
Enjoying its 23rd straight month in positive territory, and now in its 8th consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year growth, e-Commerce was up 15.2% over June 2010. However, not all its sub-categories showed growth. The Family clothing category slipped by 0.2% year-over-year, while online Jewelry sales were down by 12.9%. By contrast, online Women’s clothing sales grew by 12.2% year-over-year.
In its 9th consecutive month of year-over-year gains, the SpendingPulse Luxury Index (excluding Jewelry) was up 8.2%, more in line with first quarter of the year and better than the 4.7% gains seen in May 2011. The SpendingPulse Luxury category includes luxury sales at high-end restaurants, food stores, department stores and general apparel categories.
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Meir Kahtan, +1-212-575-8188
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or
MasterCard Worldwide
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naya_larsson@mastercard.com
Meir Kahtan, +1-212-575-8188
mkahtan@rcn.com
or
MasterCard Worldwide
Naya Larsson, +1-914-249-3916
naya_larsson@mastercard.com
