Study: Same-store sales rise 1.3% in October
Arlington, Virginia –- Brick-and-mortar retailers have at least one good piece of news to cheer them up this fall. U.S. same-store retail sales were up 1.3%, or $3.9 billion, in October 2014, driven by a 2.2% increase in dollars per transaction, according to data from the Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) Index and historical U.S. Census data.
The APT Index showed that Americans spent $299 billion at retail stores during the month. APT Index same-store sales were higher in areas where unemployment decreased, complementing the recent Labor Department report of lower month-over-month unemployment in October.
Performance was better in areas with lower unemployment and lower income. In areas where unemployment improved by at least one percentage point year-over-year, retail sales increased 1.6%. In areas where unemployment did not improve by one percentage point year-over-year, retail sales increased 0.7%.
Interestingly, in areas with median income below $75K, retail sales increased 1.9%, while in areas with income above $75K, retail sales increased 0.8%.
While performance was strong overall, October retail sales varied among the Top 25 metro areas. The metro areas where the APT Index showed retailers performing the best were: San Antonio, Texas with a 3.3% sales increase; Houston (3.3%(; and Detroit (2.9%). The areas where the APT Index showed retailers performing the worst were Minneapolis (-2.9%), San Francisco (-1.1%) and Seattle (-1%).