consumerindexes.com

What It Is

Consumer Metrics Institute is a website built around leading indicators of U.S. consumer activity, positioning itself as the publisher of “Daily Consumer Leading Indicators.” Its core idea is to mine consumer tracking data to capture interest in major discretionary purchases as far upstream in the transaction chain as possible, offering a more timely view of changes in the U.S. consumer economy than traditional monthly macroeconomic indicators.

Core Features and Data

The site presents the Daily/Monthly Absolute Demand Index, Weighted Composite Index, 10 industry indexes, as well as 91-, 183-, and 365-day growth rates and historical percentiles. Covered sectors include Automotive, Entertainment, Financial, Health, Household, Housing, Recreation, Retail, Technology, and Travel. Its composite index is weighted according to the U.S. Department of Commerce NIPA tables, emphasizing U.S. consumer interest in discretionary spending such as autos, housing, travel, durable goods, and investments, while excluding non-discretionary spending such as food, fuel, and utilities.

On the data side, the site explains that it uses tracking data to capture consumers’ initial purchase decisions, with some information obtained even while transactions are still being processed. However, it does not disclose specific data providers, sample size, covered channels, or quality-control mechanisms. For serious research, this is its main transparency gap.

Pricing and Support

The pages mention that some charts are “available only to Members,” indicating that member-only content exists, but pricing, plans, trials, payment methods, and enterprise licensing are not disclosed. In terms of support channels, only an email newsletter subscription, FAQ, downloads, and historical pages are visible; there is no apparent customer support, API, SLA, or integration documentation.

Pros, Cons, and Best Fit

Its strengths are high update frequency, a clear indicator framework, detailed industry breakdowns, and an explanatory relationship with macroeconomic measures such as GDP, NIPA, and CPI. Its weaknesses are that the site feels relatively traditional and lacks features common in modern data products, such as dashboards, APIs, exports, permission management, and team collaboration. In addition, the latest commentary says it will stop publishing BEA GDP release analysis, so the continuity of its content should be assessed carefully.

It is better suited to macro researchers, investment analysts, and industry strategists tracking U.S. consumption trends as a supplementary leading indicator. It is not suitable as an SEO or marketing automation tool.

Access from China

Access from mainland China is not covered in the source text, so its status is unknown. Payment methods are also not disclosed. For alternatives, it can be cross-checked with The Conference Board LEI, FRED, BEA/BLS public data, Google Trends, Similarweb, or Statista.