NRSInsights’ February 2024 Retail Same-Store Sales Report - Seite 2

Commentary from Suzy Silliman (SVP, Data Strategy and Sales at NRS)

“Same-store sales in February – adjusting for the leap year – rebounded from the annual post-holiday retrenchment in January, to increase 7.4% sequentially and 3.5% compared to February 2023. Nearly all categories experienced sequential growth with the notable exceptions of prepared foods and baking staples which declined from January sales levels.

“February’s sales are always interesting because of consumer spending patterns leading up to Valentine's Day. This February, Candy sales jumped in February after several months of sequential decreases – which was no surprise - but also increased strongly versus February a year ago. On the other hand, sales in the Sparkling Wine/Champagne category, which traditionally spike during this holiday, suffered a decrease of ~7% compared to February 2023.

“Regionally, our retailers in Arizona, Montana and Wyoming saw the most significant year-over-year same-store sales growth. Looking at the data, it is likely that winter weather events in each state drove pre-storm stockpiling.”

Retail Trade Comparative Data

The table below provides historical comparative data with the U.S. Commerce Department’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade same-store sales data excluding food service:

Over the past twelve months, the NRS network’s three-month moving average same-store sales have outpaced the US Commerce Department’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade data excluding food services by 4.3% percentage points, on average.

The NRSInsights data have not been adjusted to reflect inflation, demographic distributions, seasonal buying patterns, item substitution, or other factors that may facilitate comparisons to other periods, to other same-store retail sales data, or to the U.S. Commerce Department’s retail data.

NRSInsights Reports

The NRSInsights monthly Same-Store Retail Sales Reports are intended to provide timely topline data reflective of sales at NRS’ network of independent, predominantly urban, retail stores.

Same-store data comparisons of February 2024 with February 2023 are derived from approximately 151 million transactions processed through the 16,886 stores on the NRS network that scanned transactions in both months. Same-store data comparisons of January 2024 with December 2023 are derived from approximately 202 million transactions processed through 24,265 stores.