Consumers Continue to Trim Discretionary Spending: Fiserv

Consumers are making notable shifts in purchasing behavior – spending more on the essentials, trimming back discretionary purchases, and spending less when they choose to dine out, as outlined in Fiserv’s Fiserv Small Business Index.

“Even as consumer spending shows resiliency, market uncertainties appear to be driving budget-conscious consumers to reprioritize where they spend their money,” says Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer, Fiserv. “Small businesses providing the essentials, including healthcare and grocery, saw strong gains in the month; conversely, discretionary spending, including parts of travel and retail saw growth slow.”

Key takeaways:

·        On a year-over-year basis, small business sales (+3.2%) and total transactions (+6.9%) continued to show growth. Annual sales growth was challenged by very strong results in April 2024, while transactions growth maintained healthy levels relative to the past 12 months.

·        Month-over-month sales (+0.4%) and transactions (+0.3%) also rose.

·        Inflation contributed 2.4% to April 2025 sales growth compared to 3.4% in April 2024, and 2.4% in March 2025.

·        Compared to April 2024, sales of devices (+3.6%) continued to outperform hoods (+2.2%), which has been the case for each month of 2025. Top-performing service categories included professional devices (+5.0%). Sales declined most in transit and transportation (-1.9%).

·        Compared to March 2025, ground transportation (+4.1%), insurance (+2.7%), and rental and leasing (7.1%) services were the fastest-growing categories.

·        Compared to 2024, small business retail sales (+2.2%) and transactions (+0.1%) grew, slowly, led by grocery (+7.0%), clothing (+5.3%), and building materials/garden supply (+4.6%).