Consumers Are Trimming Their Spending, Fiserv Small Business Index Finds

Small businesses experienced a single boost in April from March, according to the Fiserv Small Business Index. The metric increased from 150 in March to 151 in April, Fiserv Inc. says, reflecting activity from small businesses providing more essential services.

Consumers, however, have pulled back on their discretionary spending. “Small businesses providing the essentials, including health care and grocery, saw strong gains in the month. Conversely, discretionary spending, including parts of travel and retail, saw growth slow,” Prasanna Dhore, Fiserv’s chief data officer, says in a statement.

Small business restaurant sales dipped 0.1% from March to April while foot traffic was up 0.6% for the same period. Fiserv indicates budgets may have been a priority in many restaurant visits with the average ticket size decreased 7.8% year-over-year, though total transactions were up 9.6%. That restaurant trend is not dissimilar from April 2024 when restaurant spending decreased 3.1% from March 2024.

Retail growth last month was modest, with a 1.8% increase year-over-year and down 0.1% from March.

Services, however, was a bright spot for growth in April, up 3.6% from April 2024. Top service categories and their corresponding increases are professional services, up 5%, and ambulatory health care, up 4.2%. The accommodation and transit and transportation segments were down 5% and 1.9%, respectively.

Launched a year ago, the index analyzes transaction data from approximately 2 million U.S. small businesses on the Fiserv and Clover point-of-sale platforms. Clover is owned by Fiserv.