The Top 10 Fastest Growing Retail Categories in the United States

 

Yearly Retail Sales Growth in Canada

Fastest Growing Retail Categories: July 2020 vs. July 2019

  1. Sporting goods, hobby, books & music – (+11.4%)

  2. General merchandise stores – (+11.2%)

  3. Food & beverage – (+8.4%)

  4. Electronics & appliances – (+6.2%)

  5. Furniture & home furnishings – (+6.0%)

  6. Building material & garden equipment – (+4.7%)

  7. Health & personal care – (+3.3%)

  8. Motor vehicle and parts dealers (+1.3%) 

  9. Clothing & accessories – (-12.9%)   

  10. Gasoline stations – (-14.5%)

Month to Month Retail Sales Growth in Canada

Fastest Growing Retail Categories: July 2020 vs. June 2020

  1. Clothing & accessories – (+11.2%)

  2. Gasoline stations  – (+6.1%)

  3. Furniture and home furnishings – (+5.0%)

  4. Motor vehicle & parts dealers – (+3.3%)

  5. Electronics & appliances – (+0.6%)

  6. Health & personal care – (-0.0%)

  7. General merchandise stores – (-0.4%)

  8. Food and beverage – (-2.1%)

  9. Sporting goods, hobby, books and music – (-8.8%)

  10. Building material & garden equipment – (-11.6%)

While moving in the right direction, the pace of the recovery is uneven with categories like sporting goods experiencing double digit gains over last year and other categories like clothing and accessories struggling. Sporting goods stores are experiencing high demand versus last year as consumers try to entertain themselves as their typical summer schedule is curtailed due to the pandemic. Food and beverage is performing well as spend at restaurants and bars shifts to at home dining. Online sales are another bright spot with sales up 24.7% versus last July. 

Consumers are still hesitant to go to malls with traffic at brick and mortar stores selling mostly discretionary merchandise like apparel down by as much as 43% versus last year. Since malls often over index in clothing accessory stores these retailers as well as department stores continue to struggle. 

The declines in traffic also highlight why retailers like JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Ascena Retail Group (Ann Taylor, LOFT and Lane Bryant) have filed for bankruptcy. Clothing sales are likely to continue to falter with one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year back to school, hampered by school closings and ongoing uncertainty.

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Tricia McKinnonTrends