by However, transactions were down 6.1% from October 2024, suggesting consumers are experiencing higher costs on finished goods largely related to tariffs
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliance store sales were up 4.9% year over year from October 2024 and were up .6% from September, according to an analysis of retail sales by Fiserv, a global financial technology resource firm.
Adjusted for inflation, sales were up 1.8% from October 2024 and up .6% from September.
However, estimated transactions were down 6.1% from October 2024 and down .1% from September, suggesting that consumers are experiencing higher costs on finished goods, including imported furniture or appliances facing tariffs including items made domestically that are seeing higher costs because of imported materials.
“This shows that even though fewer consumers purchased furniture, the total money spent was up,” the report noted, adding, “This suggests that items people did buy were more expensive than the year before, potentially due to inflation or tariffs.”
The company said the data is based on actual card, cash and check point-of-sale transactions from over 2 million small businesses across the U.S.
Home News Now is publishing this information, along with an earlier report from the National Retail Federation, in absence of retail sales data typically provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The DOC did not publish the data for last month as it was impacted by the government shutdown.
According to the Fiserv report, furniture was one of the strongest categories, falling just below sporting goods, musical instrument, book and miscellaneous retailers, up 6.3% year over year and 3% from September, and clothing, clothing accessories, shoe and jewelry retailers, up 5.9% from October 2024 and up 1.9% from September.
General merchandise retailers were up 2.8% from October 2024 and up .4% from September.
Sectors that saw a decrease in sales, according to the Fiserv survey, were motor vehicle and parts dealers, down 5.6% from October 2024 and down 2% from September; health and personal care retailers, down 4.1% from October 2024 and up .6% from September; building material and garden and equipment supplies dealers, down 1% from October 2024 and down .7% from September; and gasoline stations and fuel dealers, down .4% from October 2024 and up .3% from September.
Overall, core retail, which Fiserv said excludes more volatile categories including gasoline stations, motor vehicle and parts dealers and building materials, was stronger, with sales growing 2.6% from October 2024 and up 1.6% from September.
Year to date, from January through October, the survey noted that furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances showed mixed results: Sales were up 3.55% but transactions were down 6.39%.
Again this could highlight the impact of tariffs causing an inflationary environment for the industry, although many retailers say that consumers won’t necessarily notice higher prices as they don’t shop for furniture as often as they do other products or services.
Thus, the price of a bedroom suite or sectional might appear more expensive, but that is also partly because consumers are comparing it to something totally different that they purchased many years ago.
With the government reopening this week, we will continue to report on the retail stats from the DOC when they resume publication. However, the Fiserv and NRF data also is worth noting as they provide their own unique perspective based upon a different approach to the calculation of the data.
