As surveys have indicated earlier this month, consumers are closely following the ongoing supply chain crisis. That still seems to be the case. New data show that inflation concerns remain high as consumers continue to be affected by rising prices while shopping for the holidays.
Consumers don’t think this issue is going away either. As of December 16th, more than half (56%) of consumers only expect rising prices to get worse over the course of the next six months.
Likely a result of rising inflation rates and prices during the busiest shopping season of the year, consumers are feeling less comfortable with the amount of debt they have right now.
In fact, in the last few months, an increasing percentage of people report using “Buy Now Pay Later Programs” like Affirm or Afterpay.
However, an increasing percentage of adults say they do actually plan to have lower debt amounts six months from now.
What’s driving that notion? Data show that it will likely be a calculated individual effort. Half of consumers (49%) say they will practice more conservative spending over the next six months. And one-fourth say they will be “very conservative” when it comes to their spending – a trend all brands should be on the lookout for.
In fact, those who are currently uncomfortable with the amount of debt they have today are much more likely to say they’ll be conservative with their spending habits over the next 6-months.
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