U.S. Retail Sales Dip as Consumers Anticipate Better Deals

Despite a slight decrease in October, total retail sales are up 2.7% year-on-year, with nonstore sales seeing a significant boost.

U.S. retail and food services sales for October 2023 were down 0.1% compared to September, with consumers pulling back spending in anticipation of better promotions in November and December.
Retail inventories were up 5.3% over the previous year from January through April 2023, but have since come down as retailers work to reduce their assortments and total inventory holdings.
Shopper traffic in physical retail stores was down by 3.7% compared to last year in October, but spending per transaction was 1.6% higher.
Total retail sales were up 2.7% for October compared to last year, with nonstore sales (including e-commerce) up 10.4%, primarily driven by Amazon Prime Days.
The Consumer Price Index showed an increase of 3.2% for all items for the last 12 months, which is smaller than the 3.7% increase for the 12 months ending September, indicating a cooling down of inflation.