Sizing Up Consumer Trends in 2023 with S&P

Photo credit: Alexander Grey on Unsplash

With a month of 2023 behind us, everyone in retail is wondering how consumer trends will play out this year in the face of ongoing (but lessening) inflation and a tricky macroeconomic picture, to say the least. While there may be something on the order of $1 trillion collectively still sitting in the discretionary pot among U.S. consumers, per NRF’s economists, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be pouring into stores and websites. To help us get a better understanding of the picture in the months ahead, we caught up with analyst Sarah Wyeth, Retail Sector Lead for S&P Global Ratings. We discussed consumer confidence (or lack thereof), waning demand, margin protection and retention vs. acquisition, among other hot-button topics.