In April 2024, small business retailers experienced a significant improvement in their sales compared to March. They saw a 1.6% month-over-month (MoM) sales growth and a 7.7% year-over-year (YoY) increase, according to the Fiserv Small Business Index. This marked a positive trend that was consistent with the growth experienced by various retail subsectors, including Furniture (+4.9%), Building Materials (+3.8%), Motor Vehicle Parts (+4.4%), and Gas Stations (+3.1%).
The surge in demand for professional services such as tax preparation in April was attributed to the IRS tax filing deadline falling within the month, resulting in an increase in spending on Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services by 7.0% MoM and 16.4% YoY respectively. The construction sector also experienced growth, with Specialty Trade Contractors witnessing a 4.1% MoM and 4.0% YoY increase in spending due to projects like swimming pool services and heating/cooling specialists driving demand in this sector.
On the other hand, businesses capturing discretionary spending such as restaurants did not perform as well in April compared to previous months, despite experiencing only a minor decline of 0.2% YoY after seeing a slowdown in sales growth due to consumer preferences shifting towards lower-priced options at Food Services and Drinking Places (-3.1% MoM). However, they still managed to keep their customers engaged through offering more budget-friendly choices.
Overall, small business retailers experienced significant growth in their sales during April due to strong consumer spending patterns that shifted towards service-based businesses and certain retail subsectors experiencing strong increases in sales from March to April.
The Fiserv Small Business Index reported an overall growth of 5.6% YoY and 2.2% MoM respectively with the seasonally adjusted index rising by four points to 145.
In conclusion, small business retailers had a solid month of sales growth during April due to various factors such as consumer spending patterns shifting towards service-based businesses and certain retail subsectors experiencing strong increases in sales from March to April.
