By Roy Urrico

Milwaukee-based Fiserv, a provider of payments and financial services technology, published the Fiserv Small Business Index for December 2024. The Index, according to Fiserv, is an indicator of the pace and mix of consumer spending. Seasonally adjusted for December, it saw a three-point increase from November. This continued growth is a positive sign for small business owners, many of which saw December cap off a strong holiday season.

“Small business sales continued their growth in December despite consumer spending patterns beginning to shift,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer at Fiserv. “Notably, consumers diverted more spend to service-based business, retail spending continued to display strength, and consumers spent less dining out as average restaurant ticket sizes continued to decline.”
On a year-over-year basis, small business sales (+4.9%) and total transactions (+5.5%) grew significantly compared to 2023. Month-over-month sales (+2.0%) and transactions (+0.6%) saw modest growth compared to November.
The Fiserv Small Business Index is derived from point-of-sale transaction data, including card, cash, and check transactions in-store and online across approximately two million U.S. small businesses. The data also incorporates hundreds of thousands of transactions leveraging the Clover point-of-sale and business management platform, which is now part of Fiserv.
Retail Stayed Strong
The Index also found that nationally, consumer spending at small business retailers remained strong through December, growing both sales (+ 4.9%) and transactions (+ 5.8%) year-over -year to wrap up a strong holiday season. Average retail ticket sizes declined (-0.9%) slightly compared to 2023. Year-over-year, the fastest-growing retail categories were general merchandise (+14.4%), clothing, shoes and jewelry retailers (+7.5%), furniture, electronics, and appliances (+6.3%), and grocery (+5.3%).
Compared to November 2024, small business retail sales also grew (+1.0%). The strongest month-over-month gains were seen at clothing, shoes and jewelry retailers (+7.6%), general merchandise (+3.1%), and health and personal care retailers (+2.6%). grocery (-1.3%) and sporting goods (-0.1%) were the only retail subsectors to experience slower growth compared to November.
Restaurants’ Pace Slows
Consumer spending at small business restaurants slowed in December, with sales tapering back (-3.4%) despite transactions (or foot traffic) continuing to grow (+4.1%) year-over-year. Restaurants seeing the sharpest slowdown in sales were full-service restaurants, including upscale and family dining; quick service and fast casual restaurants performed better. The disparity in sales and transactions was the result of a significant reduction in average ticket size (-7.4%) compared to 2023.
Likewise, month-over-month restaurant sales (-1.6%) weakened, while total restaurant transactions (+1.4%) grew. Average ticket sizes (-3.0%) declined compared to November.
Consumers Ramp Up Services
Consumers ramped up spending in December at service-based organizations, where growth had slowed in recent months. As a whole, services grew year-over-year (+4.9%) and month over month (+2.1%).
Compared to 2023 the fastest-growing service categories were professional, scientific, and technical services (+12.2%), truck transportation (+8.6%) and food manufacturing (+9.8%). Compared to November, ambulatory healthcare (+5.4%), insurance (+4.9%) and professional services (+3.2%) were the fastest-growing categories in December.
Regional Trends
Vermont (+15.4%), Georgia (+13.5%), South Carolina (+13.3%), Wisconsin (+12.0%) and Kansas (+11.8%) showed the most growth among states compared to December 2023. North Dakota (+7.7%), New Jersey (+5.2%) and Arizona (+5.1%) were the strongest performing states for sales growth month-over-month.
Atlanta (+14.4%) and Miami (+10.4%) were the strongest-performing large cities for small business sales growth year over year. On a monthly basis, sales growth was strongest in Los Angeles (+4.1%), San Francisco (+3.7%) and Philadelphia (+3.7%).