Mastercard SpendingPulse: U.S. Retail Sales Grew 26.3% Year-Over-Year in March, One Year Since First Lockdown
April 08 2021 - 7:01AM
Business Wire
U.S. retail sales growth rates increased by double-digits in
March as we hit the one-year mark since the first Covid lockdowns
impacted retail sales. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse™, U.S.
retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased 26.3%
year-over-year in March, and online sales grew 56.8% compared to
2020. Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail
sales across all forms of payment.
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Retail sales benefited from the infusion of stimulus payments,
coupled with broader reopening across the country. This is
particularly evident when looking at the first and second halves of
the month:
- Sales in the first half of March increased 1.6% vs. a year ago,
when consumers were hitting the stores and stocking up in the face
of the pandemic.
- In comparison, during the second half of the month, retail
sales rose 46.9% YOY. This growth reflects both the positive boost
of the stimulus payments on consumer spending as well as the
lockdowns that weakened retail sales across the country in the same
period in 2020.
The unique retail scenario of last March is also seen in the
year-over-year comparison for the sectors.
For instance, in March 2020, discretionary sectors such as
Apparel and Jewelry experienced a dip in spend when people first
started social distancing; this has led to significantly elevated
growth rates this March.
Essential sectors, such as Grocery, faced the opposite situation
as sales surged last year as consumers stocked up; Grocery fell
into negative growth territory this month when compared to the
strong growth in March 2020. Grocery sales are up (+7.5%) when
compared to March 2019, however.
About Mastercard SpendingPulse
Mastercard SpendingPulse™ reports on national retail sales
across all payment types in select markets around the world. The
findings are based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard
payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain
other payment forms, such as cash and check. As such,
SpendingPulse™ insights do not in any way contain, reflect or
relate to actual Mastercard operational or financial performance,
or specific payment-card-issuer data.
Mastercard SpendingPulse defines “U.S. retail sales” as sales at
retailers and food services merchants of all sizes. Sales activity
within the services sector (for example, travel services such as
airlines and lodging) are not included.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments
industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital
economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions
safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks,
partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help
individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses
realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ,
drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our
company. With connections across more than 210 countries and
territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks
priceless possibilities for all.
www.mastercard.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005257/en/
William Tsang, Mastercard 914.249.2640 |
William.Tsang@mastercard.com Julia Monti, Mastercard
914.217.9533 | Julia.Monti@mastercard.com
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