Fiserv: Small business retail sales see slight dip in May
Small business sales remained flat month over month in May, but increased slightly compared to a year ago.
That’s according to Fiserv’s Small Business Index for May 2026, which found that sales were flat (+0.0%) and transactions declined slightly (-0.2%) compared to the previous month. Small business sales rose (0.7%) year over year, driven by average tickets that climbed 3.1% compared with 2025.
Transactions declined (-2.4%) year over year, marking the seventh consecutive month of declining foot traffic. The seasonally adjusted Index remained at 144.
In retail, total sales increased 0.1% year over year but declined -0.5% month over month. Transactions decreased -0.6% compared with April. Core retail sales were soft (-0.1% year over year; -0.5% month over month), while retail transactions did not grow (0.0%), but average tickets rose 0.9%.
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Gas station sales grew 22.9% year over year in May and 1.2% month over month, due entirely to higher average tickets. Fiserv said rising fuel costs likely contributed to average ticket growth across multiple service segments, including professional services, transportation and warehousing, and administrative support services.
“We saw a continuation of recent trends in May: stable overall sales, rising average tickets, and softer consumer activity as households adjust to increasing costs,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer at Fiserv. “Services remained the strongest contributor to sales growth, full-service restaurants outperformed limited-service and higher fuel costs continued to impact many businesses.”
Other insights from the May report include the following:
- Small business restaurant sales declined (-0.6%) year over year but accelerated slightly (0.6%) compared with April. Higher prices continued to shape results, with average tickets up 3.0% year over year. Transactions fell -3.6%, marking a sixth consecutive month of year over year declines
- Essentials sales increased 0.9% year over year as average tickets rose 4.3%. Discretionary categories also expanded (0.6%) year over year, with average tickets up 2.6%.
- Goods sales inched up 0.1% year over year in May with stable transactions (0.0%) and modest ticket growth (0.2%). Services expanded 1.0% year over year, supported by 4.2% average ticket growth, while transactions declined -3.2%, a clear indication that price continues to drive overall sales growth.
The Fiserv Small Business Index is derived from point-of-sale transaction data, including card, cash and check transactions in-store and online across approximately 2 million U.S. small businesses, including hundreds of thousands leveraging the Clover point-of-sale and business management platform.
