Report: Retail sales stable entering holiday season

Purchase, N.Y. MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and service sales, on Tuesday provided summary results for the first half of the month, through Nov. 14.

The report found that retail sales were generally stable leading up to the holiday season, although some apparel sectors were showing mild year-over-year declines after the relatively strong showing in October.

"Since the spring of 2009, a generally stable environment has persisted. And as we have come into October and November 2009, some industry sectors are beginning to show smaller year-over-year declines, while others are showing positive year-over-year comparisons," noted Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research for SpendingPulse.

SpendingPulse data also suggests that there exists a more stable pricing environment, with the average price index information indicating less discounting taking place. "As retail inventories appear to be more aligned with consumer demand this year, there hasn't been the same need for the widespread and emergency discounting that occurred in November 2008," noted Rao.

For the pre-season period through Nov. 14, sales within the specialty apparel category were down 5.0% against the same period last year. While this number is down from the 3.4% increase in October, it is much better than the double-digit decline the sector experienced during the first two weeks of November 2008.

Year-to-year women's apparel sales were down 3.3%, and Men's Apparel was down by 1.0%. In both cases, these figures are still improvements over earlier in the year. Women's apparel had shown nine months of double-digit, year-to-year declines since October 2008. Footwear sales, which had shown two consecutive months of year-to-year increases in September and October, cooled to a 1.5% year-to-year decline in the first two weeks of November.

Luxury showed the largest drop, with a 9.2% year-to-year decline, after posting an increase in October.

Finally, electronics sales for the period were up 6.1% year-to-year, and the e-commerce channel continues to experience growth with an increase of 19.4% over the first two weeks of November 2008.

Rao concluded, "The numbers overall continue to be much improved to the declines the sectors have experienced over the past year."