CE, Majaps Led July Retail Sales: MasterCard

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 8/12/2010

Purchase, N.Y. - Consumer electronics and major appliances were among the top-selling categories at retail last month.

According to the latest SpendingPulse report from MasterCard Advisors, CE and majaps joined travel and e-commerce on the short list of sectors showing sales strength in an otherwise weak July.

The monthly retail assessment, produced by MasterCard's professional services segment, showed that total retail sales -- seasonally adjusted and excluding gasoline and autos -- were essentially flat last month, with a 0.1 percent increase from June and a 0.4 percent gain from the year-ago period.

"After several months of sales slowdown, total retail sales have stabilized somewhat, although overall growth has slowed sharply since earlier this year," said Kamalesh Rao, economic research director for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. "In fact, growth in July headline numbers was driven largely by an increase in spending on gasoline. The ex-auto year-over-year numbers tell a similar story of a shallow and stabilizing trough."