Retail Services Price Index, third quarter 2020
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2021-01-13
In the third quarter of 2020, the Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) posted moderate growth of 1.0% from the previous quarter, and more retail stores were back to normal business as a result of staged reopening in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This recovery can also evidenced in the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, which recorded an increase in retail sales of 23.2% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter.
The moderate growth of 1.0% is consistent with our recent publication, COVID-19 Impact Analysis and 2020 Outlook: The Retail Services Price Index, which states that the RSPI is not expected to increase markedly in the remaining two quarters of 2020, as selling prices for most retail subsectors will likely remain low.
For a detailed and interactive view of the data, please consult Statistics Canada's Wholesale and Retail Services Price Indexes: Interactive Tool. This tool allows users to explore current and historical margin trends for various types of wholesaling and retailing services.
Chart 1
Retail Services Price Index
Quarter-over-quarter highlights
Following a 1.7% increase from the first to the second quarter, the RSPI continued to grow in the third quarter, but at a slower rate (+1.0%). Margins were up in 6 of the 10 major retail subsectors surveyed, led by gasoline stations (+3.7%), which contributed the most to the overall growth. After two quarters of declines, clothing and clothing accessories stores began showing signs of recovery, with its margins up 2.5%. Health and personal care stores (+1.9%) also posted an increase, attributable to increased demand for personal protective equipment, medical testing devices and vaccines.
Four subsectors in which margins were positive last quarter saw moderate decreases in the third quarter—food and beverage stores (-0.7%); general merchandise stores (-0.8%); miscellaneous store retailers (-0.6%); and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (-0.6%). Together, these subsectors moderated the overall growth of the RSPI from the second to the third quarter of 2020.
Year-over-year highlights
In the third quarter, the RSPI rose by 2.1% compared with the same quarter of 2019, following a 2.5% increase in the previous quarter. This is the largest two-consecutive-quarter increase observed in five years. Of the 10 subsectors surveyed, 7 were up and 3 were down. Gasoline stations (+8.7%) and food and beverage stores (+2.2%) contributed in large part to the overall year-over-year increase.
Because of the impact of the pandemic, retail margins at general merchandise stores (-3.1%) continued to decrease on a year-over-year basis. Clothing and clothing accessories stores—although still down (-2.0%)—showed signs of recovery, as the rate of decline was much lower than that of the previous quarter.
Note to readers
The Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) represents the change in the price of retail services. The price of 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 web page. 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).
- Date modified: