A reversal may be looming in July, but Canadian retailers closed out June on solid footing, with sales advancing 0.6% to $74.3 billion. Early data points to much of that momentum unwinding the following month.
Seven of nine subsectors posted higher sales in June. Leading the pack were general merchandise retailers, up 2.7% in a second consecutive monthly gain, followed by a 3.1% increase at clothing, accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers.
Also climbing for a second straight month were core retail sales, which rose 1.2% once gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers are excluded. The one soft spot in that measure was food and beverage retailers, off 0.4%, as supermarket and grocery sales fell 0.6% following a 0.8% rise in May.
New car dealers, up 1.5%, powered a 1.0% gain at motor vehicle and parts dealers, marking a third straight month of growth. Used car dealers dragged on the category with a 2.4% drop.
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Gasoline stations and fuel vendors recorded the sharpest decline at 4.1%, a first drop in four months, though sales at those outlets rose 4.2% in volume terms.
Ontario, buoyed by general merchandise retailers, notched the largest provincial increase in dollar terms at 1.6%, and retail sales in the Toronto area jumped 3.9%. Alberta fell the most, down 1.3% on lower fuel sales.
E-commerce climbed 9.9% to $5.7 billion, or 7.7% of total retail trade, up from 7.1% in May.
Volume-based retail sales rose 1.5% in June, with second-quarter sales up 2.2%. Statistics Canada’s advance estimate pegs a 0.8% July decline, a preliminary figure subject to revision.
