Retail Sales Take a Wild Ride

 
Retail sales have been all over the map the past few months. They have dropped, then risen just enough to get retailers excited, and then dropped again. High inflation rates and concern for the economy have kept consumers cutting back on their purchases. Sales are now increasing again as the holiday season approaches and there is early demand for holiday goods. Sales, although increasing now, will not likely remain that way, more than likely dropping again when the holiday season comes to a close.

Lesley Hensell, Co-Founder of Riverbend Consulting, shares the trends she has seen over multiple retail outlets and predicts where retail sales are headed in the coming months.

Lesley’s Thoughts:

“Retail sales have been on a wild ride the last few months. They were down in August, down in September. Then a little bit of an uptick in October got some analysts excited. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of reason for excitement just now. In October, I think a lot of folks had delayed purchases for a really long time.

For example, in automotive, for new vehicles, when they saw those prices drop a little bit in October, they jumped and took advantage to replace that car that really needed replacing. A lot of things were replaced in Florida for people hit hard by the hurricane, buying soft goods and furniture and housewares.

Also, there’s been some early demand for Christmas items, holiday items, and gifts, stimulated by Amazon and other online and brick and mortar stores who are really trying to push demand early. So, while it was a really great October compared to the prior years, I really think we’re gonna see some pairing back continue to happen this holiday season.”