AI Data Insight
In May 2026, the US retail inventory-to-sales ratio, excluding motor vehicles and parts, dropped to 1.08, a slight pullback from the previous value of 1.09. During the same period, retail inventories excluding autos increased by only 0.3% month-over-month, falling short of market expectations and indicating a more cautious restocking strategy among retailers. Moving forward, attention should be paid to whether consumer resilience can continuously drive a new round of restocking demand in this low inventory-to-sales ratio environment.