Consumer Behavior

February a big e-commerce month despite wicked winter weather

Photo by istock.com

March 12, 2021

Winter storms across the U.S. in February did not dampen consumer e-commerce activity as spending increased 54.7% compared to February 2020.

Retail sales in the U.S., not including auto and gas, jumped 4.6% compared to last year, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse report.

Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, according to a press release on the data findings. Additional findings include:

• Grocery sector grew 12.4% year-over-year for the month.
• February saw jewelry spend rise 5.9% and 63.1% online YOY. Restaurant spending remained down (-13.5%) but has showed improvement over the past two months.
• Furniture and furnishings (up 8.6%) continued to post solid gains as seasonally cooler weather led to home improvements and décor projects.
• While apparel sales were down 5.3% overall, apparel e-commerce sales grew 47.3% YOY. This month, 73.9% of all apparel purchases were made online; a year ago, in February 2020, 47.5% were purchased online versus in-store.
• The infusion of stimulus payments in early January appeared to boost consumer spending through early February, though the impacts have waned.

Mastercard SpendingPulse analysis shows how the extreme winter freeze impacted retail sales locally and at the national level.

On Feb. 17, Dallas, Austin and Houston all had year-over-year total retail sale declines of 35%-50% as retail locations closed amid crippling cold. With Texas typically accounting for approximately 10% to 11% of U.S. retail sales volume, this widespread event pulled the national growth rate down 2.2% for the week.

Online sales activity also took a hit as power outages limited consumers' ability to recharge phones and other devices. This lack of connectivity drove online sales in the region into negative territory for several days.

As the weather cleared, a wave of recovery spending with daily YOY rates exceeded 30% in markets such as Dallas, Austin and up to Nashville.

"While in-store sales decelerated slightly compared to last month as a result of winter storms, consumers are continuing to show up online," Steve Sadove, Mastercard senior advisor and former CEO of Saks Inc., said in the release. "From jewelry to apparel, e-commerce has opened doors for consumers to shop online while warmer days, widespread vaccinations and the loosening of restrictions appear on the horizon."