Written By
Sheikh Hasib Ahmed
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As they start to stock their shelves with holiday merchandise, several businesses have noticed that consumer demand is still very resilient. In contrast, credit card usage fell in September, which would portend a slowdown in the fourth quarter.
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Oliver Chen, senior research analyst at TD Cowen, stated on Yahoo Finance Live that "what we are seeing is cracks in the consumer."Chen listed a number of barriers that consumers must overcome.
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Even if it is increasing more slowly, inflation is still rising. In August, consumer prices increased 0.6% from the previous month and 3.7% from the previous year.
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Additionally, higher energy costs haven't helped. According to AAA, the national average gas price on Friday was $3.83 per gallon, which is a little less than the 2023 high but still less than the most recent high of over $5 per gallon reached in 2022.
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Chen also claims that resilient consumers who are still making purchases like booking travel over buying things. This has resulted in lower footfall for retailers in September.
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Consumers are clearly feeling cautious, according to our research, said UBS analyst Jay Sole on Yahoo Finance Live. "
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"They're worried about things like having to pay off student loans, and as a result, they think that they're going to cut back on spending on discretionary items like apparel, footwear, and accessories
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According to a recent consumer study by Coresight Research, fewer respondents said they anticipated their personal financial status to be better this holiday season than it was last year.
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From 34.2% in June, the proportion of those who believed their condition would improve fell to 18.8% in August.
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Real retail sales growth is anticipated to range between 1% and 1.5%, while nominal retail sales growth will be in the range of 3%.