On Nov. 15, President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package—The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—that provides historic funding levels to improve public works, including roads, bridges, highways, internet access and the power grid, as well as to mitigate the effects of climate change. ... READ MORE >
Consumer products
Consumer products holiday season countdown: Lessons to learn as retailers look to 2022
Successful execution on an omnichannel strategy is no longer enough for middle market retailers. Yes, it’s important to meet and sell to clients where they are whether it’s in a store or online, but it’s also essential for retailers that these channel efforts be profitable, especially amid this year’s ... READ MORE >
Consumers signal strong start to holiday spending; how will it end?
The increase in October retail sales at 1.7% month over month beat estimates of 1.4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For further perspective and to reduce the noise and focus on holiday season sales, we saw a 12.9% increase year over year for retail sales, excluding food services, gas, building ... READ MORE >
Consumer products holiday season countdown: Where will they shop?
As we move closer to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the traditional peak holiday shopping season, where consumers plan to complete their holiday shopping has been a topic of discussion from retailers to analysts. As noted by the National Retail Federation, holiday sales this year are anticipated to ... READ MORE >
Consumer products holiday season countdown: Help wanted
All industries are grappling with labor shortages and the retail sector is no different. Most retailers have already started ramping up for the holiday shopping season as consumers begin their holiday spending earlier and earlier each year. For instance, at the end of September, according to Bloomberg, ... READ MORE >
Personal spending grew in September despite mitigating factors
Personal spending grew in September for the second straight month as the extra income from the enhanced Child Tax Credit program continued to offset the impact from the delta variant on consumption demand. The headline spending number rose 0.6% on the month, following an upwardly revised 1.0% in ... READ MORE >
Consumer products holiday season countdown: What will they buy?
Consumer behavior has never been more diverse, volatile and difficult to predict this holiday season. However, as consumers navigate an evolving landscape of mask and vaccine mandates, localized outbreaks and school re-openings, some trends have begun to emerge. Some at-home trends have begun to ... READ MORE >
Canada retail sales climbed in August as in-person activities picked up
Canada retail sales rose by 2.1% to CA$57.2 billion in August due to increases in both prices and volume of goods sold, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday, a promising sign for the country's economic recovery. This increase was observed across all provinces in the first full month ... READ MORE >
Consumer products holiday season countdown: Shopping has already started
For the second year in a row, we expect the pandemic to set the tone for the holiday season. In 2020, retailers and consumer companies throughout the supply chain were forced to start competing for holiday dollars earlier, with Amazon moving its Prime Day, their annual deal event for members, from ... READ MORE >
Food sales remain steady as we move into fall
While top-line retail sales data for September increased by 0.7%, beating analyst expectations of a 0.2% decline, food-focused categories remained only slightly up from August. Grocery sales were up by 0.7%, and restaurants, a proxy of food and drink places, were up 0.3%. The relatively flat numbers ... READ MORE >