APT Index: July 2014 Retail Sales Increase 1.2%, Spending Increases by $3.6 Billion from Last July
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) August 12, 2014 -- Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) today announced that U.S. retail sales for the month of July grew [+1.2%] nationwide. Americans spent over $300 billion at retail stores during the month, up $3.6 billion from July of 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.
Overall July Sales:
Retail
Overall nationwide retail sales increased [+1.2%] in July, driven by an increase in dollars per transaction [+1.3%]. Performance was better in areas where temperature increased and rainfall decreased from last year, and where median income was less than $75K.
Change in Temperature
• In areas where temperature increased from last year, retail sales increased [+2.0%]
• In areas where temperature decreased from last year, retail sales increased [+0.5%]
Change in Rainfall
• In areas where rainfall decreased from last year, retail sales increased [+1.4%]
• In areas where rainfall increased from last year, retail sales increased [+0.3%]
Median Income
• In areas with median income less than $75K, retail sales increased [+1.5%]
• In areas with median income $75K or greater, retail sales increased [+0.2%]
Retail sales also varied among the Top 25 metro areas for the month of July. The metro areas where retailers performed the best were: Tampa, FL with a [+4.3%] increase in sales; Riverside, CA with a [+3.8%] increase; and Denver, CO with a [+3.5%] increase. The areas where retailers performed the worst were: Boston, MA [-1.7%], New York, NY [-1.7%], and Washington, D.C. [-0.7%].
Restaurants
Overall nationwide restaurant sales increased [+2.3%] in July, due to an increase in check size [+3.5%]. Guests spent over $46 billion at restaurants during the month, up more than $1 billion from July of last year. Performance was better in areas where rainfall decreased from last year, where median income was less than $75K, and where unemployment decreased.
Change in Rainfall
• In areas where rainfall decreased from last year, restaurant sales increased [+3.0%]
• In areas where rainfall increased from last year, restaurant sales increased [+1.5%]
Median Income
• In areas with median income less than $75K, restaurant sales increased [+2.8%]
• In areas with median income $75K or greater, restaurant sales decreased [-0.2%]
Unemployment
• In areas where unemployment decreased, restaurant sales increased [+2.5%]
• In areas where unemployment increased, restaurant sales increased [+1.5%]
The Top 25 metro areas where restaurants performed the best in July were: Houston, TX with a [+3.9%] increase in sales; Riverside, CA with a [+3.7%] increase; and San Antonio, TX with a [+3.3%] increase. Areas where restaurants performed the worst were: New York, NY [-5.3%], Philadelphia, PA [-2.7%], and Seattle, WA [-0.3%].
[All figures are a year-over-year, same-location comparison from July 2014 to July 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. In July, we saw a 1.2% increase in overall retail sales and a 2.3% increase in overall restaurant sales.”
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.
Cathy Baker, Applied Predictive Technologies, http://www.predictivetechnologies.com, +1 703.875.7748, [email protected]
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