U.S. Nonstore Retail Sales Rise 8.2% Year Over Year in September 2026
U.S. online consumption continues to outpace overall retail sales as consumers keep shopping online while placing greater emphasis on prices, promotions and practical value.
What are the key facts?
- 1U.S. nonstore retail sales rose 8.2% year over year in September 2026
- 2Nonstore retail sales rose 0.3% month over month in September 2026
- 3Third-quarter nonstore sales rose 7.5% year over year, exceeding overall retail and food-service sales
What happened?
Analysis of U.S. consumer data released over the past two days shows that nonstore retail sales rose 0.3% month over month and 8.2% year over year in September 2026. Nonstore retail sales mainly include ecommerce-channel sales, indicating that U.S. online consumption remains on a growth path. In the third quarter of 2026, nonstore sales increased 7.5% year over year, exceeding the 5.5% increase in overall retail and food-service sales. During the same period, furniture sales rose 1.3% month over month, department-store sales increased 1.6%, and sporting-goods sales fell 0.5%. The data indicates that U.S. consumers are still shopping online but are placing greater emphasis on prices, promotions and products’ practical value. For cross-border sellers, home goods, everyday necessities, personal care and discount-driven products can be prioritized for testing. Sports and outdoor categories require more cautious inventory and advertising controls, and sellers should not expand purchasing solely on the basis of overall ecommerce growth.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
U.S. online consumption continues to grow, with nonstore retail sales up 8.2% year over year in September 2026 and 7.5% year over year in the third quarter, keeping online demand ahead of overall retail. Prioritize testing home goods, everyday necessities, personal care and discount-driven products, while cautiously controlling inventory and advertising spending for sports and outdoor categories.
What should sellers do now?
- 1Use AI competitor and market analysis features to screen home goods, everyday necessities, personal care and discount-driven products in U.S. stores; organize a comparison table covering prices, promotions and practical value, and create a priority testing list.My AI Agents
- 2Create this week’s procurement and inventory review sheet for sports and outdoor categories in U.S. stores. Incorporate the 0.5% sales decline into the assessment, mark existing inventory, advertising spending and whether to continue replenishment for each item, and produce an actionable checklist.Procurement List
- 3Use a break-even calculator to review promotional prices for home goods, everyday necessities and personal-care listings in U.S. stores. Check costs, selling prices and post-promotion break-even points separately, and produce a directly executable price review sheet.Breakeven calculator