Saskatchewan consumers entered the fall on a bit of a restrained note, according to StatsCanada’s monthly retail sales report which looked at activity in September.
Total volume experienced by retail outlets in the province fell one percentage point in the month. That was a slightly bigger pullback than the national figure of 0.7-percent but only three-tenths of a point higher than a year earlier.
The big change nationally, according to the federal agency, was the automotive sector: vehicle sales along with parts and fuel. The biggest gainer was food and beverage.
This may not be surprising given what was happening as we went into September. There were concerns at the time about harvest: drought in some areas as well as challenges in bringing in what had looked to be an early crop.
The harvest turned out better than projected but that didn’t become clear until late September or October.
Interestingly, one other area that showed some softness in September was e-commerce or on-line sales, accounting for only six-percent of the total retail volume for the month.
