Report: Weekly Year-Over-Year Sales Rise 3.0%

Chicago ShopperTrak RCT Corp.'s National Retail Sales Estimate reported that year-over-year retail sales for the week ending Aug. 16 increased a steady 3.0%, while week-over-week sales rose 4.6% compared to the previous week ending Aug. 9.

Back-to-school sales and promotions drove consumer spending last week as week-over-week retail sales posted the largest increase yet this month while yearly sales performance also remained positive—continuing a streak of year-over-year increases since the first week in April.  

While procrastinating back-to-school shoppers will continue to drive spending, ShopperTrak expects retail performance to gradually return to more seasonal levels following Labor Day weekend.

"Retailers experienced the anticipated back-to-school spending rush last week which was a welcome sight as consumers again proved willing to spend despite various economic pressures during this critical period," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. "If yearly patterns hold true, we should see some continued positive retail spending through the Labor Day holiday, then sales will most likely return to slower levels prior to spiking again for Halloween."