A deeper look at March’s U.S. retail sales

Grocery store sales jumped by 26.9 percent after years of stagnating sales and loss of business to restaurants. Supermarket traffic is likely to keep climbing in the coming months as social distancing further inhibits a restaurant recovery.

By contrast, sales for the once surging food services and drinking places category declined by 26.5 percent from February to March. Restaurants and bars accounted for $17.5 billion of the $46.2 billion decrease in retail sales.