Spending was lower on electronic cards across most retail sectors last month, but particularly on furniture, hardware and appliances.
Official figures show that retail spending fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in January, compared with the previous month.
That's the first fall in spending following three months of increases.
Excluding fuel and vehicles, core retail spending fell 0.8 percent.
Of the six retail industries, durables had the largest decrease in card spending last month, down 1.3 percent.
Hospitality was the only retail industry where card spending increased, up 0.7 percent.
The total amount spent across all transactions was $6 billion.
