Electronics Sales Climb 8.4% as Furniture Slips
Retailers selling electronics and appliances should watch continued demand strength while furniture sellers review inventory against a 2.7% annual decline.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Retail
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U.S. retail sales rose 0.8% from August to September 2026, reaching $745.0 billion and marking the 12th straight month of gains. Retailers selling electronics and appliances saw the strongest annual growth, while furniture and home furnishings declined.
Why it matters
A twelve-month run of year-over-year gains signals sustained consumer spending, which affects inventory planning, staffing, and pricing decisions for operators across retail categories. The divergence between electronics and appliances (up 8.41% annually) and furniture (down 2.7%) shows demand is not moving uniformly across merchandise lines.
Census Bureau data shows September retail sales of $745.0 billion, up 6.3% from a year earlier, while the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor reports a 4.05% annual gain excluding autos and gasoline. Non-store retail, which includes e-commerce, rose 8.0% year to date, but the figures are not adjusted for price changes and the source does not separate volume from price effects.
The players
United States Census Bureau
The federal statistical agency that publishes the monthly Advance Retail Sales report used to track national consumer spending across retail categories.
CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor
A monthly retail indicator produced with the National Retail Federation that tracks sales using anonymized card transaction data across merchant categories.
Affinity Solutions
A data firm that supplies the anonymized credit and debit card purchase data underlying the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.
The details
The Census Bureau measure is seasonally adjusted and adjusted for holiday and trading-day differences but not for inflation, so nominal gains can reflect higher prices as well as more transactions. The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor draws on anonymized credit and debit card purchase data processed by Affinity Solutions, which captures spending patterns across channels. Operators comparing their own results against these benchmarks should note that the two series use different scopes and methods and will not match directly.
Timeline
Total retail sales rose 5.5% year over year across July and August.
September 2026 retail sales were reported at $745.0 billion, up 0.8% from August.
Tax refunds in March exceeded the prior year's refunds by more than $20 billion.
Retailers are expected to capture early holiday demand in November and December.
Market Landscape
The twelve-month streak of gains in the Census Bureau's Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey series places September 2026 within a sustained upswing in national spending. Non-store retail's 8.0% year-to-date growth outpaces general merchandise's 3.6%, indicating that channel shift toward online sellers continues to be a defining competitive dynamic.
Operators in electronics and appliances should expect continued demand strength into the holiday period, while furniture and home furnishings sellers should review inventory levels given the annual decline. Retailers planning for November and December should factor in the early holiday demand already anticipated.
The takeaway
Retail operators should use the category split between electronics and furniture as a benchmark when reviewing their own mix and inventory allocations. Track the next Census release and the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor to see whether the holiday-period lift holds or fades against these September figures.
Further reading
For broader context on how consumer spending patterns are shaping store and online strategy, explore Retail coverage on We are Main Street.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Logistics Management.
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