'Multiple Directional Shifts' Loom as Retail Unit Sales Decline, Says NPD
Retail spending ended 2021 at 19% above pre-pandemic levels, but retail unit sales declined in nine of the first 10 weeks of 2022, said NPD Monday. Revenue rose more than 5% in four of the 10 weeks. Retailers and manufacturers…
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should prepare for “multiple directional shifts” resulting from the economy and more normalized retail spending against outsized sales over the past two years, said analyst Marshal Cohen. Political unrest, economic challenges and consumers’ financial well-being can create “substantial distraction and retail disturbances,” Cohen said. As consumers become less focused on at-home needs than they were over the past two years, sales of the products most popular through the pandemic continue to exceed pre-COVID-19 performance, said the analyst, citing technology, toys, small appliances and housewares. Consumer spending on in-person experiences reached 91% of pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2021, said Cohen, citing “cautious optimism” as consumers “embrace some newfound freedom from restrictions while not yet letting go of their pandemic ways.”