Retail spending sees boost from back-to-school season

Retail spending rose modestly in July as consumers shopped for school and college supplies and took advantage of the special in-store and online promotions offered by many retailers.

Core retail sales (excluding restaurants, automobiles and gasoline) edged up 0.95% month-over-month in July and 1.69% year-over-year, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions. That compared with increases of 0.3% month over month and 3.07% year over year in June.

Total retail sales (including restaurants but excluding automobiles and gasoline) were up 0.74% month over month in July and 0.92%  year-over-year in July, according to the Retail Monitor.  

For the first seven months of the year, total sales increased 2.1% year-over-year and core sales were up 2.4%.

Many retailers held special sales and promotions during July to counter Amazon, whose Prime Day event fell in the middle of the month. Walmart hosted its largest savings event ever in July, while Target held a weeklong sales event.

[Read more: Instacart posts strong Q2 results, highlights year over year growth]

"July’s data reflects what we are seeing across the economy, that while consumers remain cautious, they are still spending on essentials when they find value,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Labor market trends have softened recently and interest rates remain high, but economic fundamentals are intact and inflation has fallen to nearly zero for goods even though prices for services are elevated.”

Sales were up in seven categories in July on a monthly basis, led by general merchandise stores and furniture and home furnishings stores. 

Specifics from key sectors include:

• Online and other non-store sales were up 0.82% month-over-month and up 18.45% year-over-year.
• General merchandise stores were up 1.75% month-over-month and up 9.68% year-over-year.
• Electronics and appliance stores were up 0.57% month-over-month and up 5.27% year-over-year.
• Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 1.41% month-over-month and up 2.29% year-over-year.
• Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores were up 1.27% month over month and up 1.13% year over year.
• Grocery and beverage stores were up 0.6% month over month and up 0.47% year over year.
• Building and garden supply stores were down 0.53% month-over-month and down 1.97% year-over-year.
• Health and personal care stores were down 0.15% month-over-month and down 2.29% year-over-year.
• Clothing and accessories stores were up 0.32% month-over-month but down 4.79% year-over-year.

Unlike survey-based numbers collected by the Census Bureau, the Retail Monitor uses actual, anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions and does not need to be revised monthly or annually.

This story originally appeared on Chain Store Age.