Retailers entered Q3 with cautious optimism as back-to-school shopping provided a temporary lift. Still, rising tariffs and economic uncertainty dampened consumer confidence, which fell to its lowest level since April 2025. Despite this, spending remained resilient.  

Affinity Solutions, through exclusive access to transaction data from over 150 million debit and credit cards, offers a real-time view of consumer behavior. In partnership with the National Retail Federation and CNBC, the Retail Monitor revealed year-over-year growth across all three months of Q3, along with a modest uptick from Q2. The Q3 Consumer Trend Report synthesizes these insights, giving retailers, brands, and advertisers a data-driven foundation to  plan strategically for 2026. 

Download now for: 

• A detailed breakdown of year-over-year and month-over-month retail spending growth across 11 key categories.  
  
  
• A look at how 2025 Q3 sales compared to prior years. 
  
  
• Insights to help brands plan for 2026 amid shifting consumer behavior.