Expectations are for sales to rise 1.1% in March, a sharp bounce back after month-on-month declines in January and February.
In a note to clients ahead of the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro noted that the big expected rebound will likely be owing to an uptick in gas prices, which bottomed in January and have crept up a bit since then, as well as a big recovery in auto sales during March.
"Core" retail sales, which exclude auto and gas sales, are expected to rise 0.6% in March.
After a soft winter of economic data, which was blamed largely on weather conditions, economists have been expecting economic data to get better over the coming months and Tuesday's retail sales report will be a big test of this thesis.
We'll be back with the live numbers when they hit.