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

“The NRS Network’s same-store sales were again strong in March, providing further evidence of continued resilience in consumer spending. Dollars, units, and traffic all tallied solid increases versus the year ago, while prices for our most popular items over the same period increased less than one percent. Standouts included increased sales of beverage categories across most alcoholic and non-alcoholic sub-categories with the notable exception of Energy Drinks, which were flat for the second consecutive month, breaking an extended growth trend.”

“Turning to select seasonal trends…while same store sales for the Candy category rebounded in February with sequential and year-over-year gains, the momentum was not sustained in March. Candy unit sales decreased ~7% and dollars declined ~2% compared to March 2023. This is notable because Easter, which typically provides Candy with a strong seasonal lift, was in March this year, as opposed to in April in 2023. More granularly, within the Candy category, the increased price of chocolate and the barrage of media coverage on the spiking prices of cocoa and sugar likely contributed to the significant decreases in Chocolate and Confectionary sales this year. Many cooking and baking categories, on the other hand, enjoyed strong March sales versus the year ago, likely reflecting Easter timing.”

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 4.5% 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 March 2024 with March 2023 are derived from approximately 172 million transactions processed through the 17,336 stores on the NRS network that scanned transactions in both months. Same-store data comparisons of March 2024 with February 2024 are derived from approximately 216 million transactions processed through 24,745 stores.