Fiserv: Grocery, general merchandise boosts small business sales in November
Small business sales and transactions both increased year-over-year in November as consumers began to shop for the holiday season.
That’s according to the latest Fiserv Small Business Index, which showed that on a year-over-year basis, small business sales (+4.8%) and total transactions (+9.1%) grew significantly compared to 2023. Month-over-month sales (-1.6%) and transactions (+0.6%) held relatively steady following very strong growth in October. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted Fiserv Small Business Index for November was 144, a two-point decrease from October.
“Holiday sales are critical for small businesses, with restaurants and retailers in particular benefitting from consumers getting out and patronizing local establishments during the final months of the year,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer at Fiserv. “Notably in November, food sales accelerated across both restaurant and grocery while retail maintained the positive momentum from October, a significant increase when compared to 2023.”
Nationally, the Fiserv Small Business Index for retail was 150, remaining steady from October. Year-over-year sales (+5.6%) and transactions (+9.5%) grew and average ticket sizes (-3.8%) continued to decline. Year-over-year, the fastest-growing retail categories were grocery (+11.1), general merchandise (+11.0%), clothing, shoes and jewelry retailers (+7.3%), and furniture, electronics, and appliances (+6.8%).
On a monthly basis, sales (-0.1%) and transactions (+0.3%) were generally flat with no change in index value compared to October, which Fiserv noted as a positive sign given the significant month-over-month growth retail saw in October. The strongest month-over-month gains were seen in grocery (+2.4%), furniture, electronics and appliances (+2.2%), and general merchandise (+0.6%).
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Food services and drinking places, which includes restaurants, indexed at 131 in November, a four-point increase compared to October. Year-over-year, restaurants saw growth in both total sales (+8.1%) and foot traffic (+8.7%), although average ticket sizes continued to decline (-1.3%) compared to 2023.
On a monthly basis, both restaurant sales (+3.1%) and transactions (+1.9%) also rose, marking a second consecutive month of strong growth.
Service-based small business sales grew compared to 2023 (+5.1%) but declined compared to October of 2024 (-1.8%) as consumers shifted more dollars to restaurants and retailers. On a yearly basis, the fastest growing service categories were information services (+15.0%), food manufacturing (+14.8%) and professional, scientific, and technical services (+11.1%), and truck transportation (+7.9%). On a monthly basis, food manufacturing (3.6%) and transportation equipment manufacturing (+1.9%) were the only service-based categories to grow sales compared to October.
Fiserv found that in November, nearly all 50 U.S. states saw small business sales growth year-over-year. Nebraska (+13.1%), Florida (+11.5%), Alaska (+11.4%), South Carolina (+8.7%) and North Carolina (+8.0%) showed the most growth compared to 2023. Washington (+3.8%), Florida (+3.7%), Alaska (+1.8%) and Nevada (+0.3%) were the strongest performing states for small business sales growth month-over-month. Miami (+11.4%) and Atlanta (+7.5%) were the strongest-performing large cities for small business sales growth year-over-year.
