The Retlia “The Register” Retail Sentiment Index is a monthly economic data series that measures retail market confidence based on recent retail and macroeconomic news coverage.
Retlia analyzes articles and scores them as positive, negative or neutral. Those scores are then aggregated into a monthly index that ranges from +30, indicating broadly constructive retail sentiment, to -30, indicating broadly adverse retail sentiment.
The index is available in SONAR at the national level for the United States and can be accessed in both the SONAR UI and API.
This dataset is useful for users who want to understand shifts in retail market confidence and how broader consumer and retail sentiment may impact freight demand.
The Retlia “The Register” Retail Sentiment Index provides a monthly view into how retail-related news coverage is trending from a sentiment perspective.
A higher index value suggests that retail and macroeconomic news coverage is more constructive, which may point to improving confidence, stronger demand expectations or a more supportive retail environment.
A lower index value suggests that coverage is more adverse, which may signal weakening confidence, softer demand expectations or increased concern around retail market conditions.
The positive, negative and neutral component tickers allow users to see how the overall index is being influenced. For example, users can compare whether changes in the headline index are being driven by an increase in positive coverage, a rise in negative coverage or a shift toward more neutral sentiment.
This data can help users monitor changes in retail confidence over time and add context to freight demand trends, especially for networks or customer segments tied closely to consumer goods, retail distribution and inventory movement.
