The NRF Retail Monitor Plus is NRF’s latest offering from the Center for Retail & Consumer Insights, leveraging innovative and powerful new purchase data to help guide and inform our members through the ever-changing retail landscape.
The NRF Retail Monitor Plus builds on the success of the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions — which launched in October 2023 — by offering expanded and modernized sectors designed specifically for a retail audience.
Want to learn more about the NRF Retail Monitor Plus or other data and insights featured in NRF’s CRCI? Our team is here to help.
If you’re interested in learning more about the NRF Retail Monitor Plus, want to set up a demo or learn more about exclusive offers from Affinity Solutions for NRF members, please fill out the Inquiry Form or contact the team at crci@nrf.com.
What is the Retail Monitor Plus?
The Retail Monitor Plus, powered by Affinity Solutions, is a new free product exclusively for NRF members that offers retail professionals a deep dive into consumer spending within 14 individual retail sectors and 10 subsectors. The Retail Monitor Plus features a user-friendly data dashboard that is updated monthly with new spending data from the month prior.
All data is presented at the topline sectors and subsectors level as well as by generation and income level and includes:
Year-over-year spending, unadjusted by sector
Month-over-month spending, adjusted and unadjusted by sector
Year-over-year change in spending by income and generation, by sector
Average spending per card by demographic
Who can access the Retail Monitor Plus?
NRF members have exclusive access to the NRF Retail Monitor Plus.
To learn more about NRF membership, visit our Membership page.
How do I access the Retail Monitor Plus dashboard?
The NRF Retail Monitor Plus dashboard is available through the Retail Monitor Plus home page. Members will have exclusive access to the Retail Monitor Plus data once logged into NRF.com.
How often is the NRF Retail Monitor Plus data updated?
The Retail Monitor Plus dashboard is updated monthly with spending data from the month prior. For more information on how to be notified when new data is available, please contact crci@nrf.com.
Can I download or export the data?
Yes. Data from individual charts can be downloaded into an Excel file via the download button below each chart.
Who can I contact if I need help with the dashboard?
Please email crci@nrf.com for any assistance or questions about the NRF Retail Monitor Plus.
How is the Retail Monitor Plus different from the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor?
While the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor is designed to be an economic measure of aggregate retail sales, comparable to the U.S. Census data on the retail sector, the Retail Monitor Plus is designed with retail professionals in mind and uses a retailer-based approach to building the 14 retail sectors and 10 subsectors.
Although the Retail Monitor Plus is based on similar data as the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, they employ several different methodological approaches and are not directly comparable.
What does the Retail Monitor Plus measure?
The Retail Monitor Plus data tracks retail sales performance for 14 custom sectors and 10 subsectors:
Year-over-year spending, unadjusted
Month-over-month spending, adjusted and unadjusted
Year-over-year change in spending by income and generation
Average spending per card by income and generation
What sectors and demographic details are included in the Retail Monitor Plus?
The Retail Monitor Plus includes data on 14 custom retail sectors and 10 subsectors across three income categories and five generational cohorts. This allows users to view topline changes in sales for restaurants, for example, while also diving deeper to view data on specific sectors and subsectors such as fast food, fast casual and full service.
Full list of sectors and subsectors:
Apparel and accessories
Clothing
Jewelry
Shoes and handbags
Auto parts and accessories
Beauty and health
Beverage and grocer
Delivery services
Grocery
Liquor and beverage
Department stores
Discount, off-price and dollar
Electronics
Hobby, toy and specialty
Home furnishings and décor
Home improvement, building and garden
Mass merchants and membership clubs
Pet shops and supplies
Restaurants
Delivery services
Fast casual
Fast food
Full service and bars
Sporting Goods
Full list of demographics:
Five generations:
Generation Z: 1997 - 2010
Millennials: 1981 - 1996
Generation X: 1965 - 1980
Baby Boomers: 1946 - 1964
Silent Generation: Pre-1946
Three income levels:
$0-$50k
$50k – $100k
$100k+
Are there sourcing requirements for use of the data?
Yes. Any data used or pulled from the NRF Retail Monitor Plus must be sourced “NRF Retail Monitor Plus, powered by Affinity Solutions.”
How do I get access to more data on specific businesses or sectors?
To learn more about how to access additional data, please complete our inquiry form.
Where does the data in the Retail Monitor Plus come from?
The NRF Retail Monitor Plus leverages Comet™, Affinity Solutions’ insights platform to analyze retail sales across the United States. Comet™ provides dynamic and accurate consumer spending insights by ingesting, segmenting and processing data from over 140 million permissioned credit and debit cards.
All metrics referenced are calculated based on Affinity’s full comprehensive dataset and are seasonally adjusted where specified. All information produced by Affinity Solutions is aggregated and grounded in consumer permission. It does not include any personal identifiable information of an individual consumer.
The NRF Retail Monitor Plus is designed with retail professionals in mind and uses a retailer-based approach to building the 14 retail sectors and 10 subsectors.
Disclaimer:
The Retail Monitor Plus leverages Affinity Solutions’ comprehensive data from more than 140 million credit and debit cards that tracks nearly 9 billion transactions, representing over $500 billion dollars in annual spending. All information produced by Affinity Solutions is anonymized and aggregated and does not include any personal identifiable information of an individual consumer.
