Q3-2025: Marketplaces Industry Quarterly Report

Marketplaces Industry Report

Q3-2025

For Q3-2025, the U.S. Marketplaces Industry saw steady growth despite declining consumer sentiment. Retail and food services sales saw healthy gains year over year and month to month in July and August† due to strong back-to-school shopping and online promotions. The retail and food services sectors also saw the number of employees increase in July and August, while key property performance metrics for Q3 pointed to growth at U.S. retail centers. †Note: Due to the U.S. federal government shutdown and suspension of services, September sales and employment figures were unavailable at the time of publication. Scroll through ICSC’s Q3-2025 Report in full, or click to the individual sections using the navigation below.

Quarterly Retail and Food Services Sales: Q3-2025

Retail and Food Services Sales* Performance and Overview**

Non-Store Retailers

Food-and-Beverage Stores

General Merchandise Stores

Food Services and Drinking Places

U.S. Dollars (Millions)

Retail and Food Service Sales

Month-to-Month % Change

July

September

July and August 2025 Overall Sales

$1.08 Trillion

- Q-o-Q

Health and Personal Care Stores

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Shopping Center Performance Benchmark

Source: NCREIF and ICSC Research

Consumer Engagement

Source: Surveys of Consumers, University of Michigan: Consumer Sentiment

Purchase Channels: September 2025 – October 2025

Source: ICSC Research

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CONTENTS

Retail and food services sales (excluding motor vehicles, auto parts and gasoline) totaled $1.08 trillion in July and August 2025.† Compared to the combined total for July and August 2024, sales for the same 2025 period grew 5.0%. These gains helped propel year-to-date sales in 2025 (January–August) to $4.25 trillion, 4.9% more than the same period in 2024.

On a rolling four-quarter basis (Q4-2024 to Q3-2025), base rent at marketplaces across the U.S. increased 3.4% and net operating income (NOI) rose 4.8% over the prior comparable period (Q4-2023 to Q3-2024). Q3-2025 alone saw base rent rise 3.4% year over year and an increase of 4.0% in NOI. All regions across the U.S. saw base rent and NOI grow over the prior 12 months, with the South experiencing the largest gain in base rent and NOI again. Shopping center occupancy rates ended Q3-2025 at 92.4%, which is 0.2 percentage points (pp.) lower than at the same period in 2024 and 0.1 pp. below Q2-2025. Compared to a year ago, the Midwest and South experienced the largest rise in occupancy in Q3-2025, while the East was the only region to see a slight gain over Q2-2025.

From late September to late October 2025, 87% of consumers made purchases in a physical store or ordered online for in-store pickup. The share of consumers buying in stores or picking up an online order in store was highest among Baby Boomers (90%), while the regions with the largest shares of consumers buying in stores or ordering online for in-store pickup were the East and West at 89%. For shopping centers specifically, 60% of consumers visited a neighborhood/community/lifestyle center, 45% went to a power center, and an equal share (42%) visited enclosed malls and outlet centers. Gen Zers were particularly active at most center types except power centers, where Gen Xers were the most likely to visit.

Consumer Sentiment

Consumer sentiment rose slightly in July to the highest level in five months but deteriorated in August and September due to ongoing frustration about higher prices that are eroding personal finances and concern about a weaker labor market. Although sentiment in Q3 remained above the 2025 low reached in April and May, the quarter ended with the metric 21.4% lower than the end of Q3-2024 and down 25.5% so far this year.

Consumer Economic Sentiment

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Industry Insights

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Combined July and August Sales by Tenant Category

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Percent Change

Building Materials and Garden Equipment/Supplies Dealers

Index

Index of Consumer Sentiment

Year-over-Year % Change in Consumer Sentiment

Year-over-Year % Change

+5.0% Y-o-Y

$536,940

$540,585

$533,035

The member organization for industry advancement, ICSC promotes and elevates the marketplaces and spaces where people shop, dine, work, play, and gather as foundational and vital ingredients of communities and economies. ICSC produces experiences that create connections and catalyze deals; aggressively advocates to shape public policy; develops high-impact marketing and public relations that influence opinion; provides an enduring platform for professional success; and creates forward-thinking content with actionable insights – all of which drive industry innovation and growth. For more information, please visit www.ICSC.com.

August

% Change

92%

Holiday shoppers planning to buy in physical stores

80%

Holiday shoppers that are open to try new brands or visit stores they haven’t shopped at before during the holiday season

78%

Holiday shoppers expecting to spend the same amount or more on holiday goods than in 2024

28%

Characterize their current financial situation as "significantly better" or "somewhat better" compared to a year ago

64%

Holiday shoppers intending to spend significantly more time this year looking for deals/promotions than in the past

23%

View the current health of the economy as "good" or "very good"

Shares of U.S. Adults

Source: ICSC Research

State of Young Consumers

Rising unemployment among young workers may be making it harder for them to keep up with loan and credit card payments. Debt and credit data show that the youngest borrowers, aged 18–29, have higher overall balances, transitioning into serious delinquency. Their share of delinquent balances is also rising faster than any other age group. Specifically, credit card and auto loan delinquencies for this group have increased notably faster than among older consumers, hinting at tightening liquidity as they have less accumulated wealth to draw upon.

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Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores

Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Bookstores

Electronics and Appliance Stores

* Seasonally adjusted ** Excluding motor vehicles, auto parts and gasoline

Physical Stores

Share of Consumers

Gen X

Millennials

All Consumers

Baby Boomers

Gen Z

Click-and-Collect

Ship to Self

79%

72%

76%

80%

87%

35%

40%

49%

35%

20%

58%

52%

55%

58%

65%

For the combined July and August 2025 period, sales at non-store retailers saw the strongest year-over-year growth followed by clothing stores. This growth was likely driven by online promotional events and back-to-school shopping. Only building material, garden equipment and supplies dealers experienced a year-over-year (YoY) decline.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey (IPUMS) via Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Young Adults Are Experiencing Higher Delinquency Rates as Their Unemployment Rates Rise

U.S. Employment (in Thousands)*

U.S. Employment Situation

The retail sector added 17,700 jobs in July and August.† This growth is a reversal from Q2, which saw one of the largest quarterly declines in nearly two years. There were 67,000 more retail jobs on average in July and August 2025 compared to the same 2024 period. The food services sector gained 16,800 jobs in July and August 2025. Those two months had an average of nearly 130,400 more food services jobs than in the same period in 2024. In the eight months of 2025, the retail sector added nearly 51,000 jobs, while the food services sector gained 12,600.

Food Services and Drinking Places

July August September

12,366.60 12,377.60

Retail

July August September

15,577.90 15,588.40

Drinking Places

Retail Food Services and

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July

August

September

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

* Seasonally adjusted

Workers Aged 22-27 With No College Degree

Vacancy Rate

Unemployment Rate

Workers Aged 22-27 With a College Degree

All Workers Aged 16-65

Workers Aged 22-65 With a College Degree

Transition Into Serious Delinquency (90+ Days) By Age (Percent of Balance)

Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax

†Note: Due to the U.S. federal government shutdown and suspension of services, September sales and employment figures were unavailable at the time of publication.

State of Young Consumers

Retail and Food Services Sales Performance

U.S. Employment Situation

U.S. Shopping Center Performance Benchmark

Consumer Engagement

Consumer Sentiment