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State of Logistics 2016: Pursue mutual benefit Retail sales see bounce back from August to September, says Commerce and NRF Destination Maternity’s WES improves warehousing throughput and capacity Voice software technology increases Horseware Ireland’s worker productivity Caffe Ladro’s e-commerce platform improves online order efficiency More News Following a decline in August, retail sales rebounded in September, according to data issued today by the United States Department of Commerce and the National Retail Federation (NRF). Commerce reported that September retail sales saw a 0.6 percent increase over August at $459.8 billion and were up 2.7 percent annually. Total sales for the July 2016 to August 2016 period were up 2.4 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Retail trade sales saw a 2.2 percent annual gain and were up 0.6 percent from August to September. And nonstore retailers were up 10.6 percent compared to September and were up 6.1 percent annually. The NRF reported that retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, were up 0.2 percent from August to September, following a 0.3 percent dip from July to August, with September retail sales up 4.1 percent annually. “This much-needed bounce in retail sales should allay some fears that the overall economy is losing its propulsion,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz wrote in a blog posting. “September’s uplift came from recent job and wage improvements and modest increase in credit use, punctuated by increased consumer optimism regarding current and future economic conditions. Consumers are spending, the picture is improving and shoppers should be in a position to spend more freely, especially as we move into the holiday season.” Earlier this month, the NRF issued a positive forecast for Holiday Sales. These sales, as defined by the NRF, are sales in the months of November and December and exclude […]