Lexington retail sales down 26% in November compared to last year. How much shoppers spent
Retail sales have slumped this holiday season, with Lexington’s rate down 26% in November from where it stood one year earlier, suggesting record high inflation could be influencing shoppers to cut back on their spending.
Similar retail spending trends are playing out statewide and across the country, with sales revenue and unit sales down during the peak of the shopping season. Point of sales data reveal retail sales revenue had fallen by 5% compared to the same week in 2021. Meanwhile, unit sales slumped 8%, per data from the NPD Group.
The National Retail Federation issued a tepid forecast in early November, projecting a “healthy” holiday sales season. The NRF expected sales to grow by 6 to 8% over 2021’s growth rate, which was a record-shattering 13.5%.
Holiday shoppers’ spending habits have likely been shaped by record high inflation, which according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is at 7.1% as of Tuesday. Grocery prices are up by more than 12%, electricity prices are up 14% and gas prices are up 17%.
In Lexington, retail sales reached $5,997,601 in November, that’s compared to November 2021, when retail sales were at $8,145,371.55, according to data from SafeGraph, which looked at a sample of credit and debit transactions.
Louisville experienced a similar spending slump, falling from $19.4 million in November 2021 to $18.2 million this November.
In Lexington suburbs like Georgetown and Nicholasville, the change was much less dramatic, as illustrated in the graph below.
Richmond was the one exception. Retail sales there grew slightly from $2.3 million in November 2021 to $2.5 million in November of this year.
Note: This graph will update automatically as new data become available.
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This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 1:38 PM.