Fiserv Small Business Index for June 2024: Small Business Sales Slow as Consumers Pull Back
Furniture World News Desk on
7/11/2024
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a leading global provider of payments and financial services
technology, has published the Fiserv Small Business Index™ for June 2024. The Fiserv Small Business Index is
an indicator of the performance of small businesses in the United States at national, state and industry levels.
“As the quarter came to a close, consumers throttled back both spending and foot traffic across retail,
restaurants and other service-based businesses”
“The Fiserv Small Business Index provides timely insight into small business performance well ahead of other
economic indicators,” said Jennifer LaClair, Head of Merchant Solutions at Fiserv. “As consumers adjust
their spending patterns, our ability to understand the impact on small businesses helps us work across our ecosystem
to better support clients through a changing economic landscape.”
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted Fiserv Small Business Index for June declined to 140. On a year-over-year basis, both small
business sales (+1.6%) and transactions (+4.4%) grew compared to June 2023, though the pace of growth is slowing.
This is reflected in declines of small business sales (-2.9%) and transactions (-1.5%) month-over-month.
“As the quarter came to a close, consumers throttled back both spending and foot traffic across retail,
restaurants and other service-based businesses,” said Prasanna Dhore, Chief Data Officer at Fiserv. “The
slowdown was driven by a combination of lower average ticket sizes—the result of abating inflation and
budget-conscious consumers—and a series of short-term seasonal demand shifts.”
Retail
Nationally, small business retail sales indexed at 142 in June, which reflects growth in year-over-year sales (+2.4%)
and transactions (+7.0%) as consumers spent ahead of their 2023 pace. General Merchandise (+8.5%) outpaced all
retail subsectors in yearly growth, followed by Gasoline Stations (+2.8%) and Health and Personal Care (+2.8%).
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers (-4.1%) and Furniture/Electronics/Appliance Retailers (-1.2%) saw total sales
decline year-over-year.
On a monthly basis, the impact was more significant as consumers sought deals and pulled-back on discretionary
purchases, with month-over-month sales (-3.3%) and transactions (-0.8%) both trending downward. General Merchandise
(+0.3%) was the only retail category to grow total sales from May to June. Gasoline Stations (-4.5%), Motor Vehicle
and Parts Dealers (-5.9%), and Health and Personal Care (-7.2%) saw the sharpest declines month-over-month.
Wholesale Trade, which tracks closely to Retail outcomes, also experienced a monthly slowdown (-4.0%).
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 U.S. small business ecosystem. Rather than relying on survey or
sentiment data, the Fiserv Small Business Index is derived from point-of-sale transaction data, including card,
cash, and check transactions in-store and online across approximately 2 million U.S. small businesses.
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.
About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a Fortune 500 company, aspires to move money and information in a way that moves the world.
As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients achieve best-in-class results
through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking
solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and
the Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale and business management platform. Fiserv is a member of the S&P
500® Index and has been recognized as one of Fortune® World’s Most Admired Companies™ for 9 of
the last 10 years. For more information, visit fiserv.com.