Graphic of the Unites States of America

The State of Local Retail 2019


 

Have you ever wondered how much money people spend at local retail shops? We certainly have, so we crunched the numbers.

To project sales patterns in 2019, we analyzed transactions for every day of the 2018 calendar year at over 52,000 small, local retail shops across the United States. This includes businesses from clothing and accessory stores to furniture and home decor shops, flower shops to shoe stores, jewelry stores to thrift stores, and a whole lot more.

The result is a comprehensive look at when local retail stores earn the most, when they sell the most items, and when customers spend the most money.

Use the map below to see local retail data for every state, or scroll down to read our national report. You can also see reports for major U.S. metro areas.

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FL TX NM AZ AK CA NV UT CO OR WA ID HI OK MT WY ND SD NE KS MN IA MO AR LA MS AL GA SC IL WI MI IN OH TN KY NC WV VA PA NY ME VT NH RI CT NJ DE MD MA

 

Understanding this report

To uncover how consumers are patronizing local retail shops, we looked at:

  • Transactions: How many individual payments a retail store processes on a given day
  • Ticket size: How much customers spend on average per transaction on a given day
  • Daily sales revenue: How much revenue a retail store makes on a given day

How much do local retail businesses make on an average day?

On a given day, retail businesses in America brought in an average of $961 in revenue. The average retail business also processed about 13 transactions each day while seeing customers spend an average of $74.65 per ticket.

Sales Revenue Transactions Ticket Size
$961 13 $74.65
National Average National Average National Average

 

State by state comparison

In comparing the average day for all retail businesses in each state, shops in Alaska proved to bring home the highest overall daily average revenue at $1,394. The largest average ticket belonged to retail shops in Maryland, where the average purchased item cost $91.70. Utah, meanwhile, was home to the country’s busiest retail shops, with 19 average daily transactions.

See where your state stacks up in the chart below.

State Daily Sales Revenue computerdaily Sales rev vs national Ticket size Ticket size vs national Average Transactions Transactions vs national

 

What days of the week are retail shops busiest?

As you might expect, Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest days of the week for retail businesses across the country. More than a third of all revenue comes in on those two days alone. On average, only 43% of retail shops stay open on Sunday, making it by far the slowest day of the week overall.

 

Looking deeper, you can see retail shops average 17 transactions on Saturdays, making it the busiest day of the week. Interestingly, those retail shops who remain open on Sunday average 15 transactions that day, making it the second busiest day of the week among open businesses.

 

 

While weekends are the busiest days of the week, Americans spend far more per item on weekdays than on weekends.

 

 

What time of year do retail shops make the most money?

Americans clearly love to shop regardless of the season, but two major holidays appear to significantly move the needle for local retail businesses.

 

Things start slow in January, picking up in time for Valentine’s Day. Retail shops see their first major spike around Mother’s Day before settling into a consistent groove, and closing out the year on a high note during the holidays.

 

Top 5 days for local retail businesses nationwide

The holiday season is huge for retail businesses across the country. The top two days of the year were the Friday and Saturday before Christmas, suggesting that local retail businesses are the preferred destination for last-minute shoppers.

Still, the holiday season in general is huge for local retailers. The number one revenue day in 32 states was during the holiday shopping season, and all but one state (Delaware) had a top five day of the year during the holidays.

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5

12/21/18

Weekend before Christmas

12/22/18

Weekend before Christmas

5/11/18

Mother's Day Weekend

5/12/18

Mother's Day Weekend

11/23/18

Black Friday

Friday Saturday Friday Saturday Friday

 

Americans also flocked to local shops to buy gifts for Mom enough to make Mother’s Day weekend the third and fourth largest days of the year. Mother’s Day weekend held the top day of the year in 12 states, and a top five day in 44 states.

 

Local retail revenue on prominent days

There’s no doubt that local retailers look to events and major holidays to bring customers in their doors. But Mother’s Day and the holidays are only part of the story. Let’s see how local retailers across the country do on and around other major holidays throughout the year.

  Day rank based on total sales How much did retail shops that were open make?
Day Day Rank Total rev vs avg % of retail shops open Avg rev Rev vs avg Avg txns Txns vs avg Avg ticket Ticket vs avg
New Year's Day 363 -78% 21% $795 -17% 13 4% $59.35 -20%
Martin Luther King Jr. Day 293 -19% 77% $822 -15% 11 -18% $77.85 4%
Day before Valentine's Day 19 39% 88% $1227 28% 15 19% $79.93 7%
Valentine's Day 6 52% 89% $1321 37% 18 37% $74.72 0%
President's Day 268 -8% 80% $892 -7% 11 -15% $81.3 9%
St. Patrick's Day 52 27% 83% $1193 24% 17 30% $71.26 -5%
Friday before Easter 11 47% 94% $1216 26% 16 27% $74.57 0%
Saturday before Easter 25 36% 82% $1285 34% 18 43% $69.9 -6%
Easter Sunday 362 -74% 25% $787 -18% 15 15% $53.18 -29%
Cinco de Mayo 28 36% 87% $1,216 27% 18 39% $67.92 -9%
Friday before Mother's Day 3 72% 100% $1,340 39% 18 37% $75.75 1%
Saturday before Mother's Day 4 71% 88% $1,512 57% 22 69% $69.54 -7%
Mother's Day 309 -38% 47% $1,035 8% 18 39% $57.79 -23%
Friday before Memorial Day 14 42% 99% $1,115 16% 14 13% $76.93 3%
Saturday before Memorial Day 62 24% 82% $1,178 23% 17 33% $68.9 -8%
Memorial Day 313 -42% 46% $982 2% 15 13% $67.34 -10%
Friday before Father's Day 16 42% 99% $1,106 15% 15 14% $75.38 1%
Saturday before Father's Day 56 25% 86% $1,126 17% 17 31% $66.86 -10%
Father's Day 340 -52% 44% $844 -12% 15 18% $55.33 -26%
4th of July 343 -53% 40% $911 -5% 16 21% $58.46 -22%
Friday before Labor Day 15 42% 95% $1,161 21% 15 17% $76.97 3%
Saturday before Labor Day 70 22% 77% $1,229 28% 18 42% $67.05 -10%
Labor Day 311 -41% 42% $1,087 13% 16 26% $67.01 -10%
Halloween 170 6% 86% $963 0% 12 -7% $80.47 8%
Veteran's Day 346 -54% 41% $868 -10% 15 16% $58 -22%
Thanksgiving 364 -84% 18% $705 -27% 14 7% $51.16 -31%
Black Friday 5 62% 74% $1,715 78% 22 69% $79 6%
Small Business Saturday 81 19% 73% $1,265 32% 18 40% $69.99 -6%
Sunday after Thanksgiving 342 -53% 41% $880 -8% 14 10% $62.1 -17%
Cyber Monday 251 -5% 79% $932 -3% 11 -16% $85.96 15%
Friday before Christmas 1 76% 87% $1,573 64% 20 52% $80.5 8%
Saturday before Christmas 2 76% 76% $1,802 87% 24 85% $75.73 1%
Sunday before Christmas 269 -8% 46% $1,542 60% 23 79% $66.9 -10%
Christmas Eve 128 11% 63% $1,364 42% 18 39% $76.44 2%
Christmas Day 365 -95% 8% $507 -47% 10 -20% $49.24 -34%
New Year's Eve 302 -26% 64% $904 -6% 13 1% $69.83 -6%

Methodology

Womply analyzed daily revenue for over 52,000 retail businesses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for all 365 days of the 2018 calendar year. Retail businesses were only qualified for the analysis if they qualified as small businesses, Womply had a full year of transaction history, and the business recorded multiple transactions per day, on average.

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