As the holiday shopping season started in earnest, October retail sales in the categories tracked by Retail Dive grew 4.3% year over year to $242 billion. The National Retail Federation, which is now tracking U.S. retail sales through a partnership with CNBC, reported total retail sales and core retail sales growth of about 2.6%.
“Today’s retail sales report reflects moderating inflation, though prices remain high and affordability is a concern for shoppers going into the holiday season,” Claire Tassin, retail and e-commerce analyst at Morning Consult, said in emailed comments. “We’ve recently seen upticks in the shares of U.S. consumers who are delaying major purchases, shopping less overall, and shifting to generic products or discount stores in order to make their household expenses more manageable.”
itim Group plc (LON:ITIM) is a SaaS-based technology company that enables store-based retailers to optimise their businesses to improve financial performance and effectively compete with online competitors. Itim adds retail value by helping multi-channel retailers optimise their business and their stores to improve financial performance and compete more effectively with the “Amazons”.