US retailers take cautious view
Wal-Mart sticks to sales forecasts
US retailers are taking a low-key view of sales prospects despite continued strong sales.
Wal-Mart is sticking with its forecast that sales in June will rise at the low end of the 4 per cent to 6 per cent range compared with a year ago. The retailer said that food, hardware, paper goods, pet supplies and toys have been the best sellers so far this month.
The National Retail Federation has reported that US general merchandise sales arose by 5.9 per cent in May over last year and increased by 0.8 per cent over April.
However, Wal-Mart has said that analysis of its sales figures show that many families continue to live ‘paycheck-to-paycheck’, while rising US fuel prices have also hit customer spending.
[img r]targetstore.jpg[/img]Wal-Mart’s biggest US rival Target also stuck with its forecast of a 5 per cent to 7 per cent increase in comparable-store sales in Target discount stores for the five weeks to July 3.
