Amazon’s Prime Day promotion pumped up July’s total retail sales, BofA says

Amazon’s Prime Day and promotions by other retailers appear to have given a meaningful pop to July retail sales, which could be stronger than economists’ forecasts, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists.

Michelle Meyer, BofA’s head of U.S. economics, said she expects retail sales excluding autos to have risen by 0.6% and about half of that would have been from Prime Day and other promotions by Amazon competitors. Wall Street’s consensus forecast is for a 0.3% gain in July on headline retail sales and 0.4%, excluding autos, according to Refinitiv. Meyer expects headline retail sales to rise by 0.4%. (READ MORE)