Whether it's because of inflation or higher interest rates, retail sales in many areas of the country are taking a hit, reports Placer.ai. Perhaps not surprisingly, retail foot traffic is also posting declines. 

The company's analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data shows that not only did month over month adjusted retail sales fall in March 2023, but also monthly retail visits in Q1 2023 were consistently below January 2022 baseline levels, based on foot traffic data. Average daily retail foot traffic per month rose 28.2% above baseline in December 2022, then plunged to 3.7% below baseline in January 2023, landing at 1.1% below baseline in March.

Nationally, March retail traffic fell 5% year over year. But in some states, the retail visit gap was less than 2.2%, while in the five worst affected states the gap was more than 7.4%. The Northeast accounted for seven of the 10 best performing states: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont.