August’s overall retail sales in the U.S. showed continuing resilience, with actual growth of 0.6% after economists polled by Reuters had predicted just 0.2% growth. However, the overall data masks some key data points that may be of concern to retailers, including data showing declines in discretionary categories such as furniture (-1.0%) and sporting goods (-1.6%). After posting robust growth for three straight months, including a strong July resulting from Amazon’s Prime Day sale and all the other retailers who offered their own “versions” of Prime Day, sales still fell short in August.
