Consumer Behavior

Inflation spurring consumers to make tough holiday spend decisions

Photo by istock.com

November 17, 2022

Consumers plan to keep budgets tight while shopping this holiday season, and 61% plan to keep the budget restricted if the current inflation economics continue.

That's a prime finding of a Shopkick survey that revealed over half of consumers expect a worse economy in the next three months, according to a press release, and that many consumers are cutting back on gifts and travel due to inflation.

The survey, which polled over 10,000 U.S. consumers in early November, also revealed additional findings:

• Most consumers (56%) are planning to take advantage of deal days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday (a 13% increase from September). With tightened budgets, shoppers are also making other sacrifices, such as prioritizing experiences and activities over physical gifts (25%), avoiding big-ticket purchases (24%), and picking up additional shifts at work or getting a second job (22%).
• Consumers are also adjusting their grocery shopping habits with the majority of consumers (69%) utilizing shopping rewards apps and coupons. Others are making meals in advance and sticking to their grocery list (48%), taking fewer trips to the store to save on gas (48%) and substituting more expensive ingredients for less expensive alternatives (37%).

"Increasing prices and inflation do not appear to be going away, and consumers are tightening their belts to cope," Brittany Billings, EVP of marketing and strategic markets at Shopkick, said in the release. "With consumers making trade-offs this year, it is more important than ever that brands and retailers stay on top of sales and discounts for deal days and beyond as price will be the driving force behind consumer's decision making this year."