U.S. Retail: A Mix of Hot and Cold – June Retail Sales Drop Month-on-Month for the First Time, While Prime Day Hits a Record!

Affected by the “persistent uncertainty” in the economy, tariffs, and trade policies, U.S. retail sales in June fell – the first monthly decline since February.

According to the latest Retail Monitoring Report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF), U.S. core retail sales (excluding food services, auto dealers, and gas stations) in June fell 0.32% month-on-month, but still rose 3.36% year-on-year.

Except for digital products (such as e-books and games), sales of all major categories fell month-on-month in June.

Total retail sales, including food services but excluding automobiles and gasoline, fell 0.33% month-on-month in June and rose 3.19% year-on-year.

In the first six months of 2025, total sales rose 4.66% year-on-year, and core sales rose 4.93%. This was the first month-on-month decline since February, when total sales and core sales both fell 0.22% from January.

“June’s numbers suggest that the long-term uncertainty surrounding the economy, tariffs, and trade policies may be prompting consumers to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to household budgets,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF.

“While the current economic fundamentals remain intact and consumers still have the ability to spend on priorities, the economy is slowing gradually and consumer confidence has been affected. While the passage of the Great American Act has clearly helped economic growth, unresolved restrictive trade policies remain a major drag.”

The following are specific data for major retail categories:

• Digital products (such as e-books and games): Up 0.26% month-on-month, with unadjusted year-on-year growth reaching 24.11%.
• Sporting goods, hobby, music, and book stores: Down 0.13% month-on-month, up 8.52% year-on-year.
• Health and personal care stores: Down 0.31% month-on-month, up 3.47% year-on-year.
• Department stores: Down 0.15% month-on-month, up 3.18% year-on-year.
• Grocery and beverage stores: Down 0.13% month-on-month, up 2.59% year-on-year.
• Clothing and accessories stores: Down 0.22% month-on-month, up 2.71% year-on-year.
• Electronics and appliance stores: Down 1.03% month-on-month, up 2.43% year-on-year.
• Furniture and home furnishings stores: Down 1.04% month-on-month, down 1.14% year-on-year.
• Building materials and garden supplies stores: Down 0.76% month-on-month, down 5.33% year-on-year.

Even so, U.S. consumers’ online spending on the first day of Prime Day rose nearly 10% year-on-year, reflecting consumers’ preference for cost-effective products.

According to Adobe’s data, U.S. retailers achieved $7.9 billion in online sales on the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day promotion (Tuesday, July 8, 2025). This figure, up 9.9% year-on-year, became the strongest single-day e-commerce sales day for U.S. retailers so far in 2025.

The single-day figure of $7.9 billion also exceeded the $6.1 billion online sales record of U.S. retailers on Thanksgiving Day 2024. Adobe predicts that U.S. retailers’ total online spending during July 8-11, 2025, will hit a record $23.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.4%, an increase of $9.6 billion from the same period in 2024.

Popular categories include:

• Home appliances (up 135% from the average daily sales in June 2025)
• Electronics (+95%)
• Tools and home improvement (+85%)
• Home and garden (+75%)
• Furniture (+55%)
• Clothing (+45%)
• Toys (+35%)

Hot-selling products include:

• Children’s clothing (+305%)
• Home security products (+260%)
• Refrigerators and freezers (+200%)
• Computers (+180%)
• Vacuum cleaners (+175%)
• Headphones and speakers (+155%)

Spending on school supplies (school bags, lunch boxes, stationery) rose 190%, and spending on dormitory necessities (single/double mattresses, microwaves, mini refrigerators, bedding) rose 105%.