Affluent paycheck-to-paycheck earners curb, but don’t completely cut, spending across categories when faced with budget concerns. As consumers across demographics continue to stretch budgets to account for rising costs, higher-income earners are no different, feeling the economic screws tightening around them. As most recently illustrated...
Consumers have long ignored or simply lived with merchant surcharges, but that’s changing as bills and statements undergo intense scrutiny in the current economic crisis, bringing about questions as to when surcharge prompts could start eating away at loyalty. This is analyzed in the report...
There may be more bank mergers on the way. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bank executives Thursday (May 18) that the industry may need more mergers, CNN reported Friday (May 19), citing unnamed sources. The report noted that the Treasury Department’s readout of the meeting, which included board members of...
The retail data released Tuesday (May 16) by the Commerce Department shows a reversal in consumer spending after two months of declines. But one headline does not a rebound make. And the more deeply one dives into the data, the more apparent it is that...
Inflation is slowing, but April’s data showed the damage has been done to consumers’ wallets. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the Consumer Price Index was up 0.4% in April. It increased 0.1% in March. In terms of food eaten at home, the prices...
As food prices continue to rise, consumers are doing everything in their power to save where they can, challenging grocers to find new ways to retain their loyalty. By the Numbers For the latest edition of PYMNTS’ Consumer Inflation Sentiment series, “Consumer Inflation Sentiment Report:...
From retail items to groceries, the inflation monster has consumers looking for any lower-priced port in the storm, and that means finding merchants with pricing to match the purse. This becomes clear in the PYMNTS report “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: The False Appeal of Deal-Chasing Consumers,”...
Even as consumers strain under inflation, they continue to spring for luxuries, to restaurants’ benefit. By the Numbers Consumers without a financial safety net are splurging on things they do not strictly need, according to data from the latest edition of PYMNTS’ New Reality Check...
Consumers are drifting deeper into financial uncertainty while scrambling to cover costs. There seemed to be little cause for concern about consumers’ ability to spend and save after having built up reserves during the pandemic, as Fed-released numbers in October revealed that U.S. households held...