According to the National Retail Federation, consumer sales were up 0.8% month-to-month from June to July. Although people are still concerned with inflation, it seems consumers are continuing to shop at a similar pace. When looking back at sales from over a year ago, retail sales are actually up 10.3%.

The top categories with sales up in include online sales, building materials and garden supplies, and grocery stores. According to the article: “Online and other non-store sales were up 18.1% unadjusted year-over-year. Building materials were seasonally adjusted and up 6.2% unadjusted year-over-year. Grocery and beverage stores were seasonally adjusted and up 7.7% unadjusted year-over-year.”

The biggest challenge consumers face going forward is what is going to happen with inflation. If it starts to go down, this will ease minds for everyone who is concerned about the state of the economy. We are hopeful that inflation may start to level out and go down as we approach the end of 2022 but glad to see consumers are still shopping at healthy levels.

To read more click the link below.

NRF: Consumers keep shopping despite inflation | Chain Store Age