Earnest Research Spend Index fell YoY in October, as both in-store and online sales decelerated. General Merchandise, which largely reflects non-discretionary spending, mostly grew in the month, with Warehouse Clubs, Online Marketplaces, and Gas stations all up low single digits. Big Box Retailers fell slightly. Household Goods, Home improvement, Home Furnishings, General Electronics, and Home Fitness declined, reflecting a challenging environment for discretionary home spending. Apparel & Accessories and Department Stores also fell high single digits to low double digits, except for Active & Athleisure and Fashion Resale. Air Travel bucked the downturn in discretionary spending headed into the holiday season, as higher fuel prices likely drove to higher ticket costs. Gym memberships were also a bright spot among discretionary categories.
(Note: Historical numbers could vary slightly due to methodology updates.)
*About the Earnest Research Spend Index:
The Earnest Research Spend Index (ERSI) is an alternative data-driven measure of consumer spending that tracks spend across 2,500+ large national brands in major consumer discretionary and staples subcategories. The near real-time data is derived from the credit and debit spend of millions of de-identified U.S. consumers. Advantages of using ERSI include better representation of e-commerce spend, disaggregation by geography, and online versus in-store breakouts.
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