Mastercard SpendingPulse is projecting 7.5% retail sales growth in the July 14 through Sep. 5 Back-to-School season, an 18.3% improvement from the comparable pre-pandemic 2019 period. Most of the gains will come from brick-and-mortar stores, forecast to grow 8.2%, while e-commerce gains only 4.3% year-over-year. Compared to 2019, in-store sales are seen increasing 9.9%, with e-commerce up 89.3% reflecting huge increases during the pandemic. Apparel is guided up 8.7% and expected to be a traffic driver for physical retail, boosted by the rebound of social events and vacations.

Total retail excluding auto posted a double-digit gain in May according to ... Log in to view full article.