As parts of the United States open up, all eyes are on the consumer: how will the lockdown have changed the American consumer’s spending habits?

To understand this, we recently looked at spending downturns in the last two decades, plus current trend information, to understand how apparel spending in the US might shift. Our findings are that the prolonged store shutdowns, plus the impacts of stark employment prospects against student debt, mean that past recessionary spending leaders (the young), maybe more reluctant to spend this time around.
We expect that spending on apparel by those 55+, the only area of the market that has appreciably grown since the 1990s, will continue to be the silver lining in an otherwise flat spending environment. This isn’t to say that young consumers won’t be spending, but that their spending growth will be weak given the limits on their earnings potential for the next few years.

Our second finding should not be surprising to anyone: yes, there will be a marked shift to digital and off-price channels, away from traditional department stores. A summary view of our channel breakdown is here:

If you want to better understand how we derived these projects, or to see the complete research, reach out to us in the Contact Us section.

Tags: Business Practices , Strategy