AI Data Insight
The U.S. Q3 (2026-08-01) non-seasonally adjusted retail inventory-to-sales ratio (excluding autos) climbed to 1.18, a significant jump from the previous value of 1.06, reflecting that the pace of inventory accumulation has temporarily outstripped sales growth. Benefiting from resilient domestic consumer strength in the U.S. and the holiday stocking wave, retail enterprises are breaking away from the destocking cycle and initiating defensive restocking. Looking ahead, if purchasing momentum during the traditional year-end peak consumption season surges as expected, this batch of inventory will smoothly convert into revenue, pushing inventories back to a healthy level.