NRF Survey Finds Retail Executives Still Optimistic

A National Retail Federation (NRF) monthly survey finds that retail executives continued to be optimistic in April, in a reading that was almost unchanged from March.

The executives’ optimism was based on an increase in sales and traffic along with increased control over pricing.

The NRF Executive Opinion Survey, a monthly index by the Retail Sector Performance Index (RSPI) remained strong in April with a reading of 58.2 points, up 10.5 points from a year ago and virtually identical to the March reading of 58.3 points.

The RSPI measures retail executives' evaluations of monthly sales, customer traffic, the average transaction per customer, employment, inventories and a six-month-ahead sales outlook expectation. The RSPI is based on a scale of 0.0 – 100.0 with 50.0 equaling normal.

The RSPI was once again fueled by above-normal readings in all key aspects of the survey, with one notable change.

Pricing power, which has read below normal since the survey’s inception, reached a new high for April. The Pricing Index jumped more than 20 points to 58.8, demonstrating that retailers are becoming less dependent on markdowns to sell goods.

“Now that retailers have more control over pricing, they are in the driver’s seat,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO. “Consumers will still be able to find great deals, but retailers will be able to strategically mark down merchandise instead of offering sweeping discounts to reduce inventories.”