Retail Services Price Index, first and second quarter 2020
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Released: 2020-09-22
During past recessions, margin growth has slowed, but remained positive. This has also been the case in the first two quarters of 2020, during the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020, margins were also influenced by a rail blockade and a crude oil price war.
In mid-October, Statistics Canada will release a detailed article that analyzes the impact of COVID-19. The article will contain information on how the global pandemic has affected the various retail trade subsectors during the first two quarters of 2020, as well as projections for the last two quarters of the year.
For a detailed and interactive view of the data, please consult Statistics Canada's dashboard, "Wholesale and Retail Services Price Indexes: Interactive Tool." This tool allows users to explore current and historical margin trends for various types of wholesale and retail services.
Chart 1
Retail Services Price Index
Quarter-over-quarter highlights
First quarter
The Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) increased 0.2% in the first quarter of 2020, during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Margins were down in 6 of the 10 major retail subsectors surveyed.
Gasoline stations (+8.7%) and electronics and appliance stores (+3.5%) were the main contributors to the overall increase. Margins for gasoline stations rose because the decrease in purchase price was greater than the decrease in selling price. General merchandise stores (-3.1%) and clothing and clothing accessories stores (-1.8%) moderated the increase.
Second quarter
The RSPI increased again in the second quarter (+1.2%). Margins for five out of the six subsectors that reported decreases in the first quarter slowly recovered. Food and beverage stores (+1.4%) and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (+7.0%) led the increase, while health and personal care stores (-1.0%) and clothing and clothing accessories stores (-0.3%) moderated the growth.
Year-over-year highlights
First quarter
In the first quarter of 2020, the RSPI rose 0.4% compared with the same quarter in 2019. Of the 10 major retail subsectors surveyed, 3 were up and 7 were down.
Margins for building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (+7.6%) and gasoline stations (+9.4%) contributed the most to the gain, while margins for clothing and clothing accessories stores (-6.1%) and general merchandise stores (-4.2%) moderated the increase.
Second quarter
In the second quarter of 2020, the RSPI increased 1.9% compared with the second quarter of 2019. Of the 10 subsectors surveyed, 8 were up and 2 were down.
Margins for gasoline stations recorded the largest annual increase (+13.9%) and were the main contributor to the annual RSPI increase, followed by food and beverage stores (+3.5%).
Because of the wide closures of clothing and department stores since March 2020, the indexes for clothing and clothing accessories stores registered a large year-over-year decrease in margins (-5.2%). General merchandise stores also experienced decreases for two consecutive quarters, with a decrease of 4.5% in the second quarter. The decreases in these subsectors mainly moderated the RSPI increase in the first two quarters of 2020.
Note to readers
The Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) represents the change in the price of the retail service. The price of the retail service is defined as the margin price, which is the difference between the average purchase price and the average selling price of the retail product being priced. The RSPI is not a retail selling price index.
With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised. The series is also subject to an annual revision with the release of second quarter data of the following reference year. The indexes are not seasonally adjusted. Data are available at the Canada level only.
Methodological change for supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience) stores (NAICS 44511) and convenience stores (NAICS 44512)
The methodology for certain respondents in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 44511 and 44512 has changed. Data are typically collected from respondents through an electronic questionnaire that collects prices for up to 24 representative products per respondent. Statistics Canada endeavours to reduce the burden on respondents and to improve data quality by finding alternate data sources. Notably, some major retailers now provide scanner data, which provide detailed sales information for every product these retailers sell. These scanner data provide a much better measure of the price evolution. With this release, the price measures for all businesses associated with some of these large retailers are now taken from the scanner data rather than from the questionnaire. Therefore, the indexes for these industries (NAICS 44511 and 44512) have changed accordingly from January 2019 onward.
Products
Statistics Canada has launched the new dashboard "Wholesale and Retail Services Price Indexes: Interactive Tool." This web application provides access to wholesale and retail margins data by category.
Statistics Canada has launched the Producer Price Indexes Portal as part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. This webpage provides Canadians with a single point of access to a variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices.
The video "Producer Price Indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It provides an introduction to Statistics Canada's Producer Price Indexes—what they are, how they are produced and what they are used for.
Quality indicators
Data quality indicators are based on measures of survey precision (standard errors), estimates of market coverage (based on the RSPI sample) and the number of reported price quotes.
Index series without data quality indicators are considered to be statistically reliable.
Users are encouraged to take into account quality indicators when using RSPI data.
Infographic: The evolution of margins in the retail trade sector (2008 to 2017)
The infographic, "Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) 2008 to 2017," which is part of Statistics Canada — Infographics (11-627-M), is available. It demonstrates how margins in the Canadian retail trade sector have evolved from the first quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of 2017.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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