Fiserv Small Business Index® for October 2024: Small Business Sales Accelerate, Retail Leads the Way
Fiserv Small Business Index rose six points to 147 in October
Small business sales grew 7.1% year over year, and 3.7% month over month; transactions grew 8.8% year over year, and 3.0% month over month
“The Fiserv Small Business Index delivers a timely and detailed look at the way consumers are spending at small businesses,” said
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted Fiserv Small Business Index increased six points to 147, marking one of the largest monthly gains and the highest overall Index value since the baseline period of
“Enthusiastic consumer spending was seen throughout small business categories in October, with growth across both goods and services, and discretionary and non-discretionary spend,” said
Retail
Nationally, the Fiserv Small Business Index for Retail Trade was 150, a five-point increase from September. Year-over-year sales (+5.8%) and transactions (+9.2%) grew as average ticket sizes (-3.3%) continued to decline. Year over year, the fastest growing retail categories were General Merchandise (+11.4%), Food and Beverage (+8.4%), Furniture (+7.8%) and Health and Personal Care (+6.8%).
On a monthly basis, Retail sales (+3.6%) rebounded after a slight dip in September; transactions grew (+3.1%). The strongest month-over-month gains were seen within Food and Beverage (+3.2%),
Restaurants
Food Services and Drinking Places, which includes restaurants, indexed at 127 in October, a 2-point increase compared to September. Year over year, restaurants saw growth in both total sales (+5.9%) and foot traffic (+7.6%); average ticket sizes continued to decline (-1.7%) compared to 2023. On a monthly basis, both restaurant sales (+1.3%) and transactions (+2.4%) grew, rebounding from modest declines in September.
Services
Service-based small business sales grew compared to 2023 (+7.4%) and compared to September of 2024 (+4.0%). At the category level, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sales grew year over year (+13.7%) and on a monthly basis (+1.3%). Specialty
Regional Trends
- All 50 U.S. states saw small business sales growth month over month.
Delaware (+8.1%),Michigan (+7.9%),Utah (+7.4%),Georgia (+7.1%) andKentucky (+6.8%) showed the most growth compared to September. Philadelphia (+5.6%) andAtlanta (+5.1%) were the strongest performing large cities for small business sales growth month over month. These cities also topped year-over-year sales growth for October at +9.2% and +8.9%, respectively.
About the Fiserv Small Business Index®
The Fiserv Small Business Index is published during the first week of every month and differentiated by its direct aggregation of consumer spending activity within the
Benchmarked to 2019, the Fiserv Small Business Index provides a numeric value measuring consumer spending, with an accompanying transaction index measuring customer traffic. Through a simple interface, users can access data by region, state, and/or across business types categorized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Computing a monthly index for 16 sectors and 34 sub-sectors, the Fiserv Small Business Index provides a timely, reliable and consistent measure of small business performance even in industries where large businesses dominate.
To access the full Fiserv Small Business Index, visit fiserv.com/FiservSmallBusinessIndex.
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