Fiserv: October sales show small businesses enter holidays with 'momentum'
Small business sales inched up from September to October, signaling positive momentum as consumers are set to begin holiday shopping.
The Fiserv Small Business Index for October 2026 found that overall sales increased 0.3% month over month. Sales rose 2.3% over October of last year, marking the strongest year-over-year gain since July 2025.
Average spending per transaction rose 3.5% year over year. Foot traffic at small businesses rose 0.5% month over month, but declined 1.2% year over year, which Fiserv said marked the 12th consecutive year-over-year decline, but the smallest since February 2026.
The index reached 146 as higher spending per transaction and improving traffic trends supported sales momentum.
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“Small businesses are entering the holiday season with encouraging momentum on both spending and customer activity,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer at Fiserv. “October’s monthly sales gains come from more purchases, not larger tickets. Sustaining that momentum as holiday shopping accelerates will be the next signal to watch.”
Total retail sales at small businesses rose 1.9% year over year on 2.2% transaction growth, while average tickets slipped 0.3%. The biggest contributions to the October retail growth came from gas stations (23.2%), sporting goods, hobby, music and bookstores (4.3%) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (3.0%). Furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances sales fell 2.5% year over year.
Small business essential spending grew 2.7% year over year, widening its lead over discretionary spending (2.0%). Services (2.3% year-over-year growth) edged past goods (2.2% growth), while services foot traffic fell 2.4%, which was still an improvement from September.
Average small business services tickets rose 4.8%. Goods transactions rose 2.1% while average tickets were essentially flat (0.2%).
Additional highlights from Fiserv’s report include the following:
- Food services and drinking places sales slipped -0.5% year over year, but rose 0.2% month over month, driven by 0.8% monthly growth at limited-service restaurants. Transactions fell 2.7% year over year, an improvement from September's 3.9% decline, while average tickets rose 2.2%.
- Limited-service restaurant sales remained down 2.2% year over year as transactions fell 4.0%. Full-service restaurant sales increased 0.5%, and drinking places rose 3.7%.
- Gasoline station sales moved up 23.2% year over year, their fastest growth pace in 2026, driven by a 22.3% rise in average tickets.
- Grocery sales were flat in October (0.0% year over year). Transactions grew 1.0% year over year, but average tickets fell 1.1%.
Methodology
Published in the first week of each month, the Fiserv Small Business Index is based on aggregated consumer spending activity across the U.S. small business economy. Unlike surveys or sentiment data, the index uses point-of-sale data from card, cash and check transactions made in stores and online at approximately 2 million U.S. small businesses, including hundreds of thousands that use the Clover point-of-sale and business management platform.
