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In
the U.S., the seasonally adjusted index for December was 146, up
3 points from November. The figure is derived from point-of-sale
transaction data, including card, cash, and check transactions
in-store and online across about 2 million U.S. small
businesses.
“Small business sales continued their growth in December despite
consumer spending patterns beginning to shift,” said Prasanna
Dhore, Chief Data Officer at Fiserv. “Notably, consumers
diverted more spend to service-based business, retail spending
continued to display strength, and consumers spent less dining
out as average restaurant ticket sizes continued to decline.”
Fiserv, a payment and financial services technology company,
found that small business sales rose 4.9% and total transactions
grew 5.5% from December the year prior.
That echoed trends at larger businesses. The National Retail
Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said
holiday sales in November and December rose 4% to $994.1 billion
compared with the previous year. For the holiday period in 2023,
sales increased 3.9% compared with the previous two-month
period. The holiday sales growth was above the group’s
expectations for a 2.5% to 3.5% increase for the period.
Retail spending at small businesses remained a high point.
Retail sales rose 4.9% and transactions rose 5.8% in December.
The strongest selling categories were general merchandise,
clothing, shoes and jewelry retailers, furniture, electronics,
appliances and grocery.
Restaurants, however, were weaker. Sales fell 3.4% from December
a year ago, even though transactions rose 4.1%. Full-service
restaurants, including upscale and family dining locations, were
the weakest performers, while quick service and fast casual
restaurants performed better. The disparity in sales and
transactions was the result of a significant reduction in
average ticket size, down 7.4%, compared to 2023.
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