November Sales Get a Boost as Consumers Turn to Online Retail

In the wake of the government shutdown, the delayed November retail sales report that debuted Wednesday (Jan. 14) offers a clear snapshot of how, and where, consumers were spending as the holiday season approached, revealing a familiar but important theme: online channels remained a steady pillar of retail growth even as shoppers became more selective.

Online Retail Shows Staying Power

Among the trends visibly intact in November was the continued strength of online spending, captured in the nonstore retail category. As inflation pressures linger and households scrutinize discretionary purchases, consumers leaned into digital channels to compare prices, seek promotions and consolidate purchases, reinforcing online retail’s role as both a convenience and a budgeting tool.

Advance estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that overall retail and food services sales rose 0.6% in November. Compared with November 2024, total sales increased 3.3%, reflecting steady year-over-year momentum heading into the holidays.

Fig 1: Advanced Retail Trade and Food Services Sales

The gains came despite uneven performance across brick-and-mortar categories, highlighting how consumers increasingly blended in-store and digital spending rather than pulling back altogether.

Holiday Categories Lead the Way

Spending tied directly to gift-giving stood out in November’s data. Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores posted some of the strongest gains of any retail segment, with sales rising 1.9% month over month and 7.8% compared to November 2024. The category’s performance underscores that consumers continued to prioritize holiday purchases, even while remaining price conscious.

Clothing and accessories stores also posted solid growth, with sales rising 0.9% in November. Electronics and appliance store sales were flat month to month but remained 2.7% higher than a year earlier, reflecting steady demand for big-ticket gifts without the sharp spikes seen in prior years.

Not all categories shared in the upside. Department store sales declined sharply, falling 2.9% in November, while furniture and home furnishings slipped 0.1% and were down 1.4% year over year. The divergence highlights how consumers concentrated spending on seasonal priorities while pulling back elsewhere.

Nonstore Retail Anchors Growth

Nonstore retail — a category closely tied to, but not limited to, online commerce — continued to outperform much of the broader retail landscape. Sales at such retailers rose 0.4% in November and were meaningfully higher than a year earlier by more than 7%, reinforcing the channel’s role as a growth engine during the holiday ramp-up.

Year-to-date data further underline the trend. Nonstore retailers ranked among the fastest-growing categories in all of 2025 (and there is still one more month of data to go), with sales up 6.9%, matching gains seen in health and personal care stores and trailing only miscellaneous retailers.

For consumers, the appeal is practical. Online retail offers visibility into pricing, easier access to promotions and the ability to consolidate purchase, features that become more valuable as budgets tighten without collapsing demand.

What PYMNTS Intelligence Saw in November

PYMNTS Intelligence findings from November provide additional context for why nonstore retail continues to gain traction. According to “The New Checkout: Crimped Consumers Lean Into Online Retail and Digital Wallets,” the average retail transaction reached $92 in November, up roughly 30% from earlier in the year, suggesting consumers were making fewer but larger purchases.

The report shows that consumers under higher financial stress spent more per retail transaction than their lower-stress counterparts, particularly online. High-stress shoppers spent an average of $111 on their last retail purchase, compared with $88 among lower-stress consumers, pointing to deliberate, value-oriented shopping behavior rather than impulse buying.

November data also indicate that online retail plays a distinct role in this strategy. Additional PYMNTS Intelligence research cited in the report found that high-stress consumers spent an average of $169 per online retail transaction, compared with $96 among lower-stress shoppers, reinforcing the idea that digital channels are used to maximize value per purchase.

Taken together, November’s retail sales data and PYMNTS Intelligence findings paint a picture of consumers who remain engaged but disciplined. Holiday-driven categories posted gains, nonstore retail continued to expand and online channels absorbed much of the demand as shoppers navigated a still-uneven economic backdrop.

Fig 2: 11-month Change in Sales by Kind of Business