Fiserv’s findings align somewhat with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s analysis released Tuesday. Excluding food, auto and fuel purchases, overall retail sales rose 5% in July year-over-year. The federal department also reported an 8% decline in furniture and home-related purchases.
In July, average ticket sizes continued to decline, dipping by 1.5% across all industries and declining by 4.8% in retail, Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Fiserv said. The company attributed that to easing inflation.
Statistics in Fiserv’s report derive from its proprietary data with respect to spending on credit, debit and electronic benefit transfer cards as well as checks in some instances, the company says.
