APT Index: May Retail Sales Comps Increase 0.9%, Memorial Day Weekend Spending Exceeds $50 Billion

WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRWEB) June 11, 2014

Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) today announced that U.S. retail sales for the month of May grew [+0.9%] nationwide. Memorial Day Weekend sales had a larger increase year over year, growing by [+3.9%] versus the 2013 holiday weekend. Americans spent $50.7 billion dollars during Memorial Day Weekend, up $1.9 billion from last year.

The APT Index includes a subset of APT’s $2 trillion in sales data, or $1 of every $5 of U.S. retail sales. The Index aggregates data from sales registers at over 65,000 locations across the U.S. to show how year-over-year performance changes for same-location sales in the physical channel. Unlike other sources, which use consumer survey data, the APT Index is based on reported sales data, allowing APT to make statistically significant observations about retail sales. As a result, the APT Index provides the most definitive and accurate analysis of sales available.

Memorial Day Weekend Sales:

Memorial Day Weekend sales increased [+3.9%] in 2014 compared with the holiday weekend in 2013, as both the number of transactions [+2.6%] and dollars per transaction [+1.3%] increased. The increase translates to additional spending of $1.9 billion, for a total of $50.7 billion spent during Memorial Day Weekend in 2014.

While Memorial Day Weekend continued to draw out shoppers, rainy weather had a significant impact on sales comps in a number of regions. In areas where it rained zero to one day(s), sales were up [+4.3%]. Similarly, in areas where it rained two days, sales were up [+4.1%]. However, in areas where it rained for three days, sales were only up [+1.6%]. In areas where it rained on all four days of Memorial Day Weekend (Friday-Monday), sales were only up [+1.0%].

Overall May Sales:

Retail

Overall nationwide retail sales increased [+0.9%] in May, driven by increased dollars per transaction [+1.4%]. Areas with a temperature increase from last year saw a [+1.4%] increase in sales, while areas with a temperature decrease versus last year saw a [-0.2%] decrease in sales. In areas where unemployment decreased, sales were up [+1.2%]. Areas where unemployment increased had a [+0.5%] sales increase. Finally, areas with median income of less than $75K had a larger sales increase [+1.2%] than areas with median income of $75K or greater [+0.3%].

Retail sales also varied among the Top 25 metro areas for the month of May. The metro areas where retailers performed the best were: Miami, FL with a [+3.8%] increase in sales comps; Riverside, CA with a [+3.1%] increase; and Charlotte, NC with a [+2.9%] increase. The areas where retailers performed the worst were: New York, NY [-1.5%], Boston, MA [-1.3%], and Detroit, MI [-1.1%].

Restaurants

Overall nationwide restaurant sales increased [+1.0%] in May, due to an increase in dollars per transaction [+2.5%]. Areas with a temperature increase from last year saw a [+1.5%] increase in sales, while areas with a temperature decrease versus last year saw a [+0.6%] increase in sales. Additionally, areas with median income less than $75K saw a [+2.0%] increase in sales, while areas with median income $75K or greater saw a [-0.6%] decrease in sales.

The Top 25 metro areas where restaurants performed the best in May were: Riverside, CA with a [+3.6%] increase in sales comps; Baltimore, MD with a [+2.8%] increase; and Portland, OR with a [+2.7%] increase. Areas where restaurants performed the worst were: Philadelphia, PA [-4.4%], New York, NY [-4.2%], and San Francisco, CA [-1.8%].

[All figures are a year-over-year, same-location comparison from May 2014 to May 2013, adjusted for consistent weekdays.]

Anthony Bruce, CEO of APT, said, “The APT Index allows us to understand both how the economy and local markets are performing. We saw a 0.9% increase in overall retail sales in May and a larger increase of 3.9% in retail sales for Memorial Day Weekend.”

Bruce added, “Using the APT Index, we can provide the industry’s most definitive comps data at the macro level as well as for each local market. The APT Index is one of the most robust and accurate ways for executives to answer questions such as: What should any given location’s performance be, based on how nearby locations are doing? How can we determine if some locations are really over- or under-performing, or if their performance is due to what’s happening in their local area? How do we perform compared to surrounding locations when we run a national ad campaign? We are seeing a lot of excitement among executives in using the APT Index to answer these and other mission critical questions.”

For more information, visit: http://www.predictivetechnologies.com.

About APT
APT is the world’s largest purely cloud-based predictive analytics software company. APT’s Test & Learn software is revolutionizing the way Global 2000 companies harness their Big Data to accurately measure the profit impact of pricing, marketing, merchandising, operations, and capital initiatives, tailoring investments in these areas to maximize ROI. APT’s client portfolio includes Walmart, Staples, Subway, Wendy’s, Lowe’s, SunTrust, Hilton Hotels, and others. APT has offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, London, Taipei, and Tokyo. Visit http://www.predictivetechnologies.com to learn more.

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