Consumers Are Spending More, But There Are Fewer of Them, Fiserv Says

The U.S. small-business economy is stuck in neutral, with any improvement coming from customers buying more rather than from a boost in foot traffic, according to a key performance index calculated by the big transaction processor Fiserv Inc.

The company’s Small Business Index registered at 145.3 for July, up 1.6% from July last year and a 0.2% improvement from June. The transaction index alone was calculated at 103, down a notch from 104 a year ago. Overall, growth is coming from higher tickets rather than more customers, according to Prasanna Dhore, Fiserv’s chief data officer.

“Consumers remain engaged, particularly in select retail categories, but continued pressure in restaurants and the shift toward value-oriented spending show households are being more selective with where and how they spend,” Dhore says in a statement.

This higher tickets, flat customer count story has unfolded with particular force in the restaurant category. Here, average tickets were 2.8% higher year-over-year while the transaction count slipped 3.6%. This trend has been particularly acute for limited-service restaurants, where sales dropped 3.4% year-over-year as transactions slipped 5.3%, according to the Index.

Gasoline sales are up 14.2% year-over-year owing to a 15.4% rise in average tickets, as the Iran war’s effect on the industry unfolds. Overall retail sales rose 1.9% over this time last year despite a 0.8% slip in average tickets, as transactions increased 2.2%. “Households remained willing to spend selectively,” the Fiserv report says.

The latest results underscore the importance of the trend among consumers to ring up higher average spending per sale. “July’s results reinforce a consistent theme in 2026. Small businesses are still growing, but growth is increasingly dependent on higher tickets rather than stronger traffic,” Dhore says in a statement.