Statistics Canada says retail sales fell 0.2% to $69.4 billion in October as sales at beer, wine and liquor stores dropped.
However, the agency says its advance estimate points to a gain of 1.2% in retail sales for November, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
TD Bank economist Maria Solovieva said the holiday shopping season got off to a flat start.
“Despite November’s rebound, the underlying trend in real sales remains negative,” Solovieva said.
“Only a handful of discretionary categories — clothing and electronics — continue to show positive momentum. This lines up with our TD credit and debit card data, which show relatively resilient services spending growth outpacing goods.”
For October, Statistics Canada says sales were down in four of nine subsectors it tracks with sales at food and beverage retailers down 2% as beer, wine and liquor retailers fell 10.6%.
It says the drop at beer, wine and liquor retailers coincided with labour disruptions in B.C., while sales at supermarkets and other grocery retailers dropped 0.7%.
Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, fell 0.5% in October.
In volume terms, retail sales dropped 0.6% in October.