At NRF 2023: Retail’s Big Show, National Retail Federation’s Mark Mathews and Jonathan Silver, CEO, founder of Affinity Solutions, discussed the forces propelling consumers to spend.
Affinity’s data showed consumers didn’t curtail discretionary spending as prices for everyday items increased. Instead, they drew on savings and other sources of income to continue spending at the same rate on essential and nonessential goods.
2023 won’t be a repeat of 2022”
Source: National Retail Federation, February 13, 2023. Link. Referencing the burn rate of excess savings, Matthews said, “We are going to get to a point in 2023 where, if inflation remains high, you are potentially going to see consumers running into a wall because they won’t be able to maintain that level of spending.”
INSIGHTS: Retail assessments of consumer spending are inclusive of animal owners whose animal health expenses often fall into discretionary spending. As an industry, we must keep emphasizing prevention programs as essential expenses and supporting those assertions with wellness and pet insurance programs.