The latest edition of the RetailNext Retail Performance Pulse has been published and is available for download, providing an overview of brick-and-mortar store performance for the retail month of January 2020 (January 5 through February 1 on the industry's 4-5-4 calendar).

Download the Retail Performance Pulse for January 2020 store results.

Retail stores enjoyed a strong start to the New Year as sales remained relatively flat, declining just 0.4 percent for the month of January, as measured on a year-over-year basis. Sales were buoyed by shoppers' strong intent to purchase when they visited stores. Shopper traffic overall decreased 4 percent for the month, but conversion and average transaction (ATV) value both posted strong results, up 0.5 points and 0.7 percent respectively, leading to a solid 3.5 percent lift in shopper yield (sales per shopper).

Conversion's uptick was its fifth consecutive month of increases, while shopper yield posted its 13th consecutive month of increases. The trends indicate shoppers bring a strong intent to buy when they visit stores.

The high and low days of January were spread throughout the month, with the final day of the month - Saturday, February 1 - delivering the high days for sales, shopper traffic and ATV. Conversely, the first day of the month - Sunday, January 5 - delivered monthly lows for both conversion and shopper yield.

Geographically, sales were very similar across the West, Midwest and Northeast regions, with the South dragging overall results down with its decrease of 3.9 percent YoY. However, the warm weather throughout much of the Midwest region resulted in the best traffic number - essentially flat at a slight 0.2 percent decline.

For a full reporting of physical store performance for the month of January 2020, please download your copy of the Retail Performance Pulse today.

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