Consumer Behavior
High gas prices puts brake on retail traffic
April 4, 2022
The increased cost of gas over the past month is having a detrimental effect on retail foot traffic, according to data from Placer.ai, an analytics firm.
Retail foot traffic nationwide dipped 4.3% in the first week of March, compared with the same timeframe three years ago, according to a Fox Business report.
The drop was described by the analytics firm as the "most severe" that wasn't a result of the pandemic or holiday calendar changes.
"Although consumers had largely shrugged off price inflation over the past several months — perhaps due to mass merchants and larger format grocers' willingness to keep price increases in check — the spike in gas prices appears to be having a marked impact," stated the report.
Gas prices, according to AAA, remain over 60 cents higher compared to February and average $1.38 higher than the same time frame in 2021.
