Consumer Frugality To Continue Into Holiday Season

If the recent back-to-school season is any indication, frugality will likely be a continued trend in consumer spending for the upcoming holiday season.

That’s according to the newly released Retail Monitor from Great American Group, which reports that early forecasts indicate that retail sales will increase less than the 4.1 percent experienced last year and essentially remain in line with inflation.

According to Mike Marchlik, national sales and marketing director, consumers will wait for sales and scale back on spending, which will require retailers to continue discounting to drive sales.

“Discounting could prove to be a challenge for retailers which have already faced gross margin pressure in the face of rising acquisition costs,” Marchlik said. “Retailers will have to manage inventory levels to avoid having to discount excessively … and encourage as many full price purchases as possible.”

The complete Retail Monitor, which reviews industry trends within all store types including department, discount, apparel, off-price, discount, jewelry and book stores, can be downloaded at
www.greatamerican.com/news_media/newsletters/newsletters.html.

Great American Group LLC is a leading provider of asset disposition solutions and valuation and appraisal services to a wide range of retail, wholesale and industrial clients, as well as lenders, capital providers, private equity investors and professional service firms. Great American Group has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.