In February, despite bad weather in the United States, it did not have much impact on consumer spending, especially online shopping. And, overall, US sales in February still increased compared to the same period last year.
U.S. online sales increased by 54.7% year-on-year
Data from Mastercard Spending Pulse shows that in February, US retail sales increased by 4.6% year-on-year. This indicator measures all payment methods, including in-store and online retail sales.
Compared with the same period in 2020, online sales in the United States in February increased by 54.7%.
Steve Sadove, Senior Advisor of Mastercard and former CEO of Sachs, said: “Although the winter blizzard has caused a slight slowdown in physical store sales, consumers can still continue to buy online. From jewelry to clothing, the development of e-commerce has opened up for consumers. The door to online shopping."
The report shows that although clothing sales fell by 5.3% as a whole, sales of clothing e-commerce increased by 47.3% year-on-year. Compared with the same period last year, in February this year, 73.9% of clothing purchases were made online. A year ago, in February 2020, the online purchase rate was 47.5%.
U.S. retail trends in February
In addition, in February, other major retail trends in the United States also included the following aspects.
1. Grocery expenditures increase: As more and more people watch football matches at home, this has led to a 12.4% year-on-year increase in grocery expenditures.
2. Jewelry spending increased: affected by Valentine's Day, consumers bought a large number of goods symbolizing love. Among them, jewelry spending increased by 5.9% year-on-year, and online jewelry spending increased by 63.1% year-on-year. In addition, restaurant spending continues to decline (-13.5%), but has improved in the past two months.
3. Steady growth in furniture expenditure: Affected by seasonal weather, house renovation and decoration projects continue to be hot. In February, spending on furniture and furnishings in the United States increased steadily by 8.6%.
4. The growth of stimulus sales continues: Although the impact has been weakened, the stimulus spending policy injected in early January prompted a boost in consumer confidence in January and February.
In summary, the spending of American consumers remains strong, and online shopping has become their main consumption channel.
