Preliminary sales figures for April show that discount and wholesale retailers benefited from consumers looking for lower prices, while mall-based apparel stores struggled, the Associated Press reported.

An early tally from Thomson Financial showed that eight retailers beat estimates, and five fell short of projections. The figures are based on same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year.

Among the top performers, the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., reported a 3.2 percent increase in same-store sales last month, aided by strong sales in grocery, health items and entertainment products. Costco Wholesale Corp. reported an 8 percent gain.

Meanwhile, Limited Brands reported a 5 percent drop in same-store sales and Gap Inc. suffered a 6 percent decrease.

Though retailers were helped by heavy discounts, the lower prices could hurt fiscal first-quarter earnings. However, the retail industry expected a boost in April sales figures because of an extra shopping day last month compared to the year-ago period.