The U.S. Census Bureau announced last week that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for November, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $352.1 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent from the previous month and 1.9 percent above November 2008.

Good news that we are finally showing positive year over year comps. Here’s a graph of monthly data going back to 1993.

Although, when you look at the adjusted totals through November of 2008, we are still down 7% year over year.  Total retail sales are below 2007 and 2006 levels as well.  We are just 1.4% above 2005 levels to this point in the year.

So, it looks like we are pulling back from the abyss, but we still have a ways to go to get back to the levels of 2006, 2007 and even 2008.

Retailers must differentiate to take market share and grow.  For many retail segments, the customer experience will be what separates the winners from the losers.