ShopperTrak: Year-over-year weekly retail sales rise 1.1%

Chicago Year-over-year GAFO retail sales increased a 1.1% for the week ending Oct. 30 while sales slipped 3.9% versus the previous week ending Oct. 23, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate.

Week-over-week GAFO sales declined last week as the large majority of spending for Halloween merchandise and candy fell outside of the GAFO retail category which ShopperTrak routinely measures (general, apparel, furniture, office). However, on a yearly basis, sales posted a slight rise as cooler weather possibly lifted fall merchandise purchases in parts of the country.

“Although the week-over-week decline was slightly larger than we anticipated, last week’s overall performance wasn’t beyond the normal for those retailers in the GAFO segment,” said Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak. “Over the next two weeks our data suggests retailers will see minimal weekly gains as consumers transition from fall spending to winter and holiday spending in late November on Black Friday, or the official start of the 2010 holiday shopping season.”

The NRSE is derived from the U.S. Commerce Department's GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales) statistic, as well as ShopperTrak's proprietary industry intelligence on shopper movement and sales statistics.

For ShopperTrak’s holiday forecast and weekly 2010 sales and traffic analysis, go to shoppertrak.com.