It’s no secret that Amazon is giving most retailers a run for their money. Over the past few years, the eCommerce giant has grown by leaps and bounds, innovating along the way and pushing the rest of the retail industry to new heights. Rather than the usual ho-hum retail industry, the eCommerce world has exploded and transformed retail as we know it.
As a result, Seeking Alpha is attributing the recent increase in retail sales to Amazon. According to the investment research company, retail sales are at their highest level since last year’s holiday season in December – the highest retail sales have been in 2017. In the month of July, upward growth momentum was found across a variety of retail sectors, including grocery, health/personal care, general merchandise, auto dealers and food services.
Reportedly, the non-store retailers arena saw a 1.8 percent month-over-month growth and an 11.5 percent year-over-year growth. Given that many retailers in the last month put out promotions around the same time as Amazon Prime Day, July 11, it may be safe to say that Seeking Alpha’s conclusion of the eCommerce giant having an impact on retail is not entirely out of left field.
Overall, retail sales saw a 4.2 percent increase in July over last year’s figures. With consumer spending accounting for 70 percent of the U.S. economic activity, many are hoping that this is a sign of the economy’s improvement. Capital Economics U.S. economist, Michael Pearce, commented on this by sharing, “With the labor market still adding jobs at a rapid pace, consumption growth looks set to remain strong for at least the rest of this year.”
As eCommerce and technology continue to infiltrate parts of retail, it’s likely that we’ll see additional positive momentum in retail sales this year.
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