After spending a lot of money on gifts and decors as well as availing of doorbuster deals from major retailers, consumers normally hold back after the holiday season. As such, businesses expect lower sales figures during the first months of the year ? but not this time. Figures show that consumers have gone back to stores to spend some more this year.
According to the National Retail Federation, January retail industry sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.9 percent seasonally adjusted from December and 4.0 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
?Thanks to a combination of unseasonably warm weather across much of the country and millions of shoppers with gift cards burning holes in their pockets, retailers are still riding the tailwinds of consumers? spending power,? said National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay. ?As a traditionally slower sales month for the industry, it?s encouraging to see such sustained growth in consumer spending and sentiment.?
Meanwhile, data ?released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce, showed total retail sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants) increased 5.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year and 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month.
Significant changes on consumers ?core? spending of Americans include general merchandises (2.0%, 5.8% YoY); sporting goods, hobby, books and music (1.1%, 4.3% YoY); furniture and home furnishing (-0.2%, 7.8% YoY); and building materials, garden equipment and supplies (0.2%, 8.1% YoY). Purchases in electronics and appliances has been on a decline as they only increased by 0.5% and dropped 0.6%YoY.
"All the post-holiday markdowns and gift cards received during the holidays worked their magic. They brought people into the stores," said Libby Bierman, analyst at Sageworks.
Although January?s retail business report looks good, Paul Dale, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics said that they don?t suggest that consumption growth is about to set the economic recovery alight. David Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley, agrees. He said the report showed consumers simply "don?t have the income growth to go crazy."
Retail sales serve as the pulse indicator of the consumers ? the primary drivers of the economy. By somewhat defying the old trend of lackluster sales during the beginning of the year, they show that they are still able to contribute to the economic recovery. The fact that the retail industry is backed up by consumer spending makes it a good acquisition opportunity. So if your company is interested in buying a retail business for sale, do so now without hesitation.
Please register as a buyer on Corporations4Sale.com to search for retail companies for sale today!
Sources:
http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1311
http://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonydemarco/2012/02/15/retail-sales-off-to-a-strong-start/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/02/14/jan-retail-sales-grew-less-than-expected/
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/14/news/economy/retail_sales/index.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/us-usa-economy-idUSTRE7BM0AB20120214
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577222872995855782.html?
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