By Alan Wolf, YSN
Good news for retailers this Memorial Day weekend: Amid record-low avoidance of public places in the wake of the pandemic, consumers plan to spend their holiday weekend … spending.
According to a May 17 survey by market intelligence firm Coresight Research, almost two-thirds of consumers plan to crack open their wallets this weekend for dining and drinking out, as well as for retail purchases both in-store and online.
Specifically, more than one in five respondents (21 percent) said they plan to purchase physical goods within a brick-and-mortar store during the extended holiday weekend, while 17 percent expect to buy physical items (as opposed to services) online.
With a combined 38 percent of respondents, shopping represents the biggest beneficiary of consumer spending over the next three days. That’s followed by dining/drinking out at 30 percent; day trips at 17 percent; and extended domestic travel at 14 percent.
Supporting the survey is separate research by FurnitureToday magazine and Esquire Advertising showing that foot traffic was largely up for furniture and mattress stores in key markets this week. Leading the charge was Houston, where footprints increased 8 percent from two weeks ago, and Indianapolis, which showed a 6.3 percent increase in in-store traffic. East Coast metropolitan areas including New York, Tampa and Washington were down slightly from the previous May 12 report, but are still enjoying a steady flow of shoppers, the publication reported.
The poll results confirm what economic observers, including our own Joe Higgins, have surmised: That consumer spending will continue to increase, even in the face of higher prices, due to the trillions of dollars now sitting in personal savings.