The US consumer is showing signs of strength, especially among upper-income earners who represent the majority of discretionary consumer spending by Americans.
This is according to the latest Dynata consumer Health Indexes.
This is the first year that the survey details are publicly released. Bain & Company and Dynata have run the indexes since 2017 to provide business decision-makers with in-depth information and analysis on consumer trends.
Low-income consumers show an appetite for spending
Those earning more than $100k a year show particular strength, while lower-income consumers earning up to $50k a year report less robustness.
The lower-income consumer intent to spend score for this group is up by 5.3 points month-on-month in November. However, the consumer outlook score for the group has remained essentially flat in the past two months.
Middle income American still drifting along
In contrast to upper and lower-income earners, middle-income Americans show no signs of building strength. This group earns around $50-100k a year.
They also don’t intend to spend more this month, albeit in the high season for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
For near-term and medium-term strategy and planning. Previously, the data from the monthly CHI survey was provided to clients privately.
Critical spending season: What will consumers do?
The world is entering a critical spending season with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas still ahead.
Karen Harris, partner at Bain & Company, says plenty of consumers are preparing to spend this time of the year.
“Upper-income earners are becoming increasingly optimistic in their outlook and are telling us they intend to spend more freely,” she says.
If you hope for a positive holiday retail spending season, you would want to see emerging strength from the upper-income group, which represents over 50% of discretionary spending in the US.
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