Online retail sales grew 25.47% year over year in January, according to CNBC and the National Retail Federation’s Retail Monitor. The year’s online sales started slightly better than 2023 ended, with January sales up 0.68% month over month, according to the NRF.
Meanwhile, total retail sales also grew in January (2.34% year over year), according to the Retail Monitor. Month over month, January sales were nearly flat, decreasing just 0.16%, the new report showed.
“January sales continued the strong performance of retail sales in December, which is impressive coming off a record holiday season,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “More importantly, year-over-year growth was solid, showing consumers are still optimistic and willing to act on the spending power brought by growing employment and wages. This is a great start to the new year.”
In December, total retail sales had increased 2.07% year over year and 0.44% over November.
January online sales and more
Online and non-store sales were among the six categories the Retail Monitor tracks that grew year over year in January. The other five:
- Health and personal care stores (up 9.7% over January 2023; up 0.51% over December 2023)
- Clothing and accessories stores (up 5.9% year over year; up 0.52% over December)
- Grocery and beverage stores (up 5.9% year over year; up 0.2% over December)
- Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores (up 1.79% year over year, but down 0.65% compared to December)
- General merchandise stores (up 1.14% year over year, but down 0.64% month over month)
The remaining three categories the Retail Monitor tracks decreased sales year over year:
- Building and garden supply stores (down 1.55% from January 2023, but up 0.48% month over month)
- Electronics and appliance stores (down 4.21% year over year, but up 1.34% over December)
- Furniture and home furnishings stores (down 6.35% year over year, and down 0.97% month over month)
CNBC and NRF’s Retail Monitor does not include automobiles and gasoline in its total retail sales data.
The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales excludes restaurants in addition to automobiles and gas. Core retail sales increased 3.24% year over year in January but decreased 0.04% month over month. That compares with 2.4% and 0.19% increases year over year and month over month, respectively, in December.
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