Small Business Sales Tick Up in July, Driven by Higher Average Ticket Sizes
Year-over-year sales (+3.6%) and transactions (+3.0%) remained strong, signaling the continued resilience of consumer spending. Average ticket sizes (+0.7%) also grew compared to 2024.
Month-over-month sales (+1.0%) grew, reversing a three-month trend of softening consumer spend. Average tickets (+0.9%) rose compared to June, while foot traffic (+0.1%) remained relatively flat.
'July brought modest monthly sales growth for small businesses, but those gains were largely driven by higher average tickets, likely resulting from continued inflationary pressure,' said Prasanna Dhore, Chief Data Officer, Fiserv. 'Economic pressures continue shifting spending patterns as well. Consumers are spending more on essentials, while discretionary is growing at a much slower pace.'
Key Takeaways
Consumer Spending Increased over June, But Foot Traffic Did Not – July's month-over-month sales growth (+1.0%) broke a multi-month slump. However, with transaction growth nearly flat (+0.1%), consumers weren't visiting small businesses more in July, they were just spending more on purchases when they did. For example, retail sales growth (+1.1%) in July 2025 compared to June 2025 was directly attributable to an increase in average ticket size (+1.1%).
Essentials Outpace Discretionary (Again) – Sales continued to grow significantly across Essentials, rising month-over-month (+1.5%) and year-over-year (+6.1%). Discretionary sales grew, but at a slower pace month-over-month (+0.5%) and year-over-year (+1.1%). This shift comes with higher costs for consumers as average tickets for Essentials are rising significantly month-over-month (+1.4%) and year-over-year (+3.0%).
Restaurants Reflect Consumer Caution – Restaurant visits dipped for the third straight month (-0.3%), dragging sales down (-0.9%) compared to June. When adjusting for inflation, sales declined (-1.1%) compared to June. As a bellwether for household budget flexibility, declining restaurant sales in July signal consumers continuing to tighten up. Despite the slowdown compared to June, restaurant sales are still growing year over year (+1.8%). Foot traffic has also increased (+2.2%) compared to 2024.
Ambulatory Health Care and Wholesalers Gain Some Momentum – After a sluggish spring, Ambulatory Health Care (+3.2%), Wholesale Durables (+1.4%), and Wholesale Non-Durables (+2.0%) made solid month-over-month gains.
To access the full Fiserv Small Business Index, visit fiserv.com/FiservSmallBusinessIndex.
About the Fiserv Small Business Index ®
The Fiserv Small Business Index is published during the first week of every month and differentiated by its direct aggregation of consumer spending activity within the U.S. small business ecosystem. Rather than relying on survey or sentiment data, the Fiserv Small Business Index is derived from point-of-sale transaction data, including card, cash, and check transactions in-store and online across approximately 2 million U.S. small businesses, including hundreds of thousands leveraging the Clover point-of-sale and business management platform.
Benchmarked to 2019, the Fiserv Small Business Index provides a numeric value measuring consumer spending, with an accompanying transaction index measuring customer traffic. Through a simple interface, users can access data by region, state, and/or across business types categorized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Computing a monthly index for 16 sectors and 34 sub-sectors, the Fiserv Small Business Index provides a timely, reliable and consistent measure of small business performance even in industries where large businesses dominate.
About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a Fortune 500 company, moves more than money. As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and Clover ®, the world's smartest point-of-sale system and business management platform. Fiserv is a member of the S&P 500 ® Index, one of TIME Magazine's Most Influential Companies™ and one of Fortune ® World's Most Admired Companies™. Visit fiserv.com and follow on social media for more information and the latest company news.
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