ShopperTrak reports slight rise in weekly sales

Chicago ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate on Wednesday reported that year-over-year retail sales for the week ending March 14 declined 2.7%, while weekly sales rose a slight 1.0% vs. the previous week ending March 7.

While year-over-year sales declined for the tenth out of 11 possible weeks in 2009, the slight week-over-week increase marks the first consecutive week-over-week increase so far this year. Many consumers took advantage of spring break to purchase seasonal items as spring and summer approach, providing the small uptick retailers experienced last week.

“Two consecutive weeks of increased retail sales is promising, however, consumers are still cautious with their discretionary spending and are currently making seasonal purchases,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “We are fairly optimistic that retail traffic will increase in the coming weeks as spring break and recreational shopping continue for many. But at this point we’re uncertain if these added trips will boost sales as consumers are still very value driven following the heavily discounted holiday shopping season.”