Dear Reader,

Welcome to our latest edition of the Win the Week newsletter, covering consumer spending trends for the week ending November 16, 2024. This week's data shows strong growth across most retail categories, suggesting holiday shopping is in full swing.

Let's dive into the numbers and analyze the most recent retail spending trends and consumer shopping behaviors.

The latest highlights are featured below.

General Retail Spending

Climbing even more than last week, general retail spending this week saw positive growth in both week-over-week (WoW) spend growth and the average ticket growth (ATG).

Specifically, when compared to last week’s general retail spending data, nearly every brand tracked had a substantial upswing in ATG, with the exception of Temu (-0.9). In contrast, Target, Amazon, and Walmart experienced positive ATG of 1.6%, 2.9%, and 4.4%, respectively. Notably, Walmart had both the biggest jump in ATG, as well as the highest average ticket of $92.32.

Looking at WoW spend growth, all brands had upticks this week, and those surpassed the positive growth in ATG. In fact, while Temu and Amazon were at the lower end of the positive weekly spend growth, with 5.6% and 6.6%, respectively, Target and Walmart had far greater gains here this week, with WoW spend growth up by 6.8% and 8.2%, respectively.

Combining that data, here’s how general retail spending changed last week when compared to the previous 7-day period:

• Weekly spend growth: 7.2%

• Average ticket growth: 3.3%

Fast Fashion Spending

Similar to general retail, fast fashion spending last week continued to improve after last week’s slower rebounds.

For average ticket growth, that meant mixed results across the brands tracked, with SHEIN and Uniqulo seeing negative ATG last week (-2.9% and -3.1%, respectively) while H&M and Zara had positive ATG of 3% and 4.4%, respectively.

With weekly spend growth, fast fashion spending also seemed to echo what occurred in general retail this week, with across-the-board growth for all brands tracked. On the lower end of the week spend growth in fast fashion were SHEIN and Uniqlo at 5% and 7.2%, respectively, while H&M and Zara were, once again, the winners, seeing WoW spend growth of 9.1% and 11.9%, respectively.

Overall, that meant that fast fashion spending last week had:

• Weekly spend growth: 10.8%

• Average ticket growth: 2.2%

TikTok Shop Spending

Another sector to see an upswing in spending this week was TikTok Shop, with:

• Weekly spend growth: 8.3%

• Average ticket growth: 7.4%

Crucially, this seems to break the months-long cycle of spending growth and backlinks at the TikTok Shop, potentially signaling a period of more sustainable week over week growth for this newer retail niche as we get closer to the official holiday shopping season.

Other Retail Categories

With near across-the-board positive growth this week, every other category in retail spending had upticks in average ticket growth this week, despite one decline in weekly spend growth.

With ATG, Grocery Stores, Fast Food & Restaurants, Wholesale Clubs, and Home Supply Stores were at the lower end of the spectrum, up 0.6%, 1.6%, 2.2%, and 2.5%, respectively. In contrast, Discount Stores were the winners last week, with average ticket growth at 7%.

Pivoting to WoW spend growth, the portrait looks al little different, with Fast Food and Restaurants being the only sector to see declines this week. Here’s how weekly spend growth shifted across other retail categories this week:

• Fast Food & Restaurant spend growth: -0.5%

• Grocery spend growth: 0.1%

• Wholesale Club spend growth: 2.1%

• Discount Store spend growth: 14.4%

• Hardware & Home Supply growth: 3.7%

Key Takeaways & Comparisons

Reviewing this week’s retail transaction data across recent consumer intelligence, we’re starting to unearth new insights and key emerging trends for several retail sectors:

1. General Retail: Strong performance with 7.2% growth and increased average ticket size, indicating robust holiday shopping activity.

2. Fast Fashion: Impressive 10.8% growth, continuing last week's positive trend and indicating strong seasonal apparel purchases.

3. Discount Stores: Outstanding growth at 14.4% with a 7.0% increase in average ticket size, suggesting value-conscious holiday shopping is gaining momentum.

4. Hardware and Home Supply Stores: Returned to positive territory with 3.7% growth, possibly reflecting holiday home improvement and decoration purchases

5. TikTok Shop: Maintained strong momentum with 8.3% growth and increasing average ticket sizes, confirming its growing role in holiday shopping.

This week's data presents a clear picture of accelerating holiday shopping activity across multiple channels. The broad-based growth across retail categories, coupled with increasing average ticket sizes, suggests consumers are actively engaging in holiday purchasing. In particular:

• The exceptional performance of Discount Stores is particularly noteworthy and may indicate that while consumers are spending freely, they're still seeking value. This could be an important trend to watch as we approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

• The continued strong performance of both Fast Fashion and TikTok Shop suggests that younger consumers are actively participating in holiday shopping, with both traditional and digital channels benefiting from their spending.

• The modest performance in Grocery and Fast Food & Restaurant categories contrasts with the strong retail spending, indicating consumers may be prioritizing gift purchases over dining out or premium groceries.

As we approach the traditional peak of holiday shopping with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up, these trends suggest we could see strong participation in these major shopping events. The increased average ticket sizes across multiple categories indicate consumers are willing to spend more per transaction, which could bode well for holiday retail performance.

Remember, Facteus analyzes over $3.1 trillion in consumer spending from more than 120 million individual consumers, providing comprehensive insights across various industries.

If you have any questions or would like to explore how Facteus' data can support your business decisions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,

The Facteus Team

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