NRF Center for Retail & Consumer Insights
The National Retail Federation’s hub for data-driven insights into the modern retail industry and the consumers who drive it.
The NRF Center for Retail & Consumer Insights (CRCI) leverages best-in-class data from trusted partners to generate more comprehensive, granular and timely insights into the mindset and behavior of consumers and the retailers that serve them.
March 2024 Retail Monitor
The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, provides a first look at how retail sales performed last month.
The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales – excluding restaurants in addition to automobiles and gasoline – was up 0.23% month over month and up 2.92% year over year in March. That compared with increases of 0.27% month over month and 2.99% year over year in February, based on the first 28 days in February..
View the full March 2024 Retail Monitor Report.
Retail's economic impact
Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, contributing $5.3 trillion to annual GDP and supporting more than one in four U.S. jobs — 55 million working Americans. Explore how retail impacts the U.S. economy and dive into retail stats for each state.
Consumer Pulse
Consumers faced a number of headwinds in 2023 that impacted their overall confidence; however, they remain relatively positive about their own financial security.
Using data from Prosper Insights & Analytics, NRF tracks both the percent of consumers who feel confident about the state of the economy over the next 6 months and the percent who feel secure about their own personal financial situation. Prosper’s consumer confidence data has been shown to be highly correlated with other major confidence indices.
Holiday and Seasonal Trends
Since 2003, NRF has partnered with Prosper Insights & Analytics to gauge consumers’ spending intentions and celebration plans for American holidays — from Valentine’s Day to Christmas — and milestone events like Graduation and Back to School. Learn more.
State of Retail
The retail industry has been undergoing an enormous transformation, especially during the pandemic as it accelerated digital offerings and adapted quickly to new customer needs. What is the future of retail in a post-pandemic world and beyond?. Learn more.
Monthly Economic Review: April 2024
Here at the National Retail Federation, we are forecasting that retail sales will grow between 2.5% and 3.5% in 2024. While that marks a slowdown from the unusually rapid growth seen since the pandemic, the projection is in line with the 10-year pre-pandemic average of 3.6%.. Read the full review from NRF's Chief Economist.
CRCI is committed to innovation and progress through our content and insights. To learn more about the methodology behind the Retail Monitor please visit our FAQ page here. To learn more about Member exclusive insights launching in 2024, please visit NRF membership.
Related Content
Watch NRF CEO Matthew Shay and Affinity Solutions CEO Jonathan Silver as they discuss the new CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, and findings for October with CNBC’s senior economics reporter Steve Liesman.
