Almost two in three consumers in the United States (US) are either buying less clothes for themselves, or are putting off purchase altogether, according to the latest Inflation and Supply Chain Survey conducted by Cotton Incorporated.
- The survey was conducted on 23-24 August.
The findings:
- Almost half (53%) of the people expect things to get better, and expect to buy clothes by the end of the year.
- 66% consumers are personally very concerned about the economy.
- Among the top concerns, 62% rated the prices of everyday goods (groceries and household items) as the area of big concern.
- 51% are very concerned about the cost of gas.
- 46% are very concerned about wages keeping up with the cost of living.
- 33% are concerned about the availability of items.
- 60% of the consumers are buying less of the things they want.
- 40% consumers have started shopping from lower-priced retailers.
- 84% consumers insist they have been impacted by shortages in the supply chain.
Inflation issues: Earlier this week, Oxford Economics predicted: "We now expect higher inflation and interest rates and spillover effects from weak overseas economies to curtail corporate profit growth more than previously expected. This will produce a mild downturn in H1 2023, resulting in flat growth for 2023 and a 1ppt rise in the unemployment rate."
- In August 2022, prices had increased by 8.3% compared to August 2021 according to the 12-month percentage of change in the consumer price index.
- The annual inflation rate in the US has increased from 3.2% in 2011 to 8.3% in 2022.
