By PYMNTS | October 15, 2026
Highlights
Census Bureau data showed sales at non-store retailers rose 0.3% from August and 8.2% from September 2025.
September produced a 1.3% monthly increase in furniture sales and a 1.6% gain at department stores, while sporting goods fell 0.5%.
PYMNTS Intelligence data found that credit card installments are gaining ground as a way for consumers to spread payments over time.
Online retail kept taking consumer dollars in September, extending an annual growth rate that outpaced overall retail even as inflation reduced the purchasing power behind the broader sales increase.
Sales at non-store retailers, which include eCommerce firms, rose 0.3% from August and 8.2% from September 2025, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday (Oct. 15).
Over the third quarter, non-store sales, a category that captures online spending, were 7.5% higher than a year earlier, compared with a 5.5% increase in total retail and food services sales.
The online gains are part of a September retail landscape in which consumers continued spending but shifted dollars differently across categories. Total retail and food services sales increased 0.8% from August to $745 billion and 6.3% from a year earlier. Sales excluding autos and gasoline, however, increased 0.2% for the month.
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Furniture and home furnishings sales increased 1.3% in September, while electronics and appliance stores gained 0.6%. Department store sales rose 1.6%. Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and bookstores moved the other way, declining 0.5%, while clothing and accessories were flat and building materials and garden equipment declined 0.6%.
Quarterly trends add another yardstick documenting where some discretionary categories surged or were muted. Electronics and appliances increased 7.6% from the third quarter of 2025, and sporting goods rose 9.3%. Furniture and home furnishings, despite September’s monthly jump, increased only 0.3% for the quarter from a year earlier.
Financing the Purchase
Consumers also have more ways to manage when they pay for discretionary purchases. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Pay Later Data Shift: Credit Card Installments Take the Lead” found in April that credit card installment use increased from 23% in April 2025 to 36% in March, while buy now, pay later (BNPL) stood at 15% at the end of that period.
The data indicated that Generation Z consumers have been enthusiastic about paying over time, representing a demographic whose use of credit card installments increased from 31% to 47%. Card installments allow consumers to divide purchases already being made on credit cards into scheduled payments, putting another financing option alongside traditional revolving balances and BNPL.
Inflation remains a factor in what might be termed “bang for the buck.” In an analysis emailed to PYMNTS on Thursday in the wake of the retail data, EY-Parthenon economists said consumers were spending more dollars without receiving an equivalent increase in goods. The company estimated that real retail sales rose only 0.1% during a month when nominal sales advanced 0.8%.
EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco and EY-Parthenon Senior Economist Lydia Boussour said “the details point to a consumer that remained willing to spend but lost momentum after showing strong spending appetite in August. The broader picture remains one of consumer resilience, but the inflation squeeze is becoming more visible.”
Heading into the fourth quarter, and the all-important holiday shopping season, the September retail mix shows consumers continuing to buy online, spending selectively, and pacing their payments over time in a bid to keep cash flow at least somewhat preserved.