As Retail Adjusts, Analysts Cite Forces Influencing Consumer Spending

As retail analysts and industry consultants digest recent holiday sales that were mixed and, in many cases, disappointing, they note that 2020 will likely be more volatile from a consumer spending perspective. In several recent reports and interviews with WWD, analysts and consultants said the retail environment will be impacted by changing economic and geopolitical forces as well as demographic shifts — notably the spending behavior of maturing Millennials, who shun large purchases and are continuing to be weighed down by student debt. With fashion apparel, analysts see the “mainstreaming” of the resale and rental segments as having the greatest impact. [See related story: Industry and Investor Eyes on Resale’s ‘Big Three’] Ricardo Rubi, partner and global head of consumer and retail at Simon-Kucher & Partners, a global strategy and marketing consulting firm, told WWD that consumer spending has been “fueling economic growth in the backdrop of growing recession concerns” and following the recent holiday season, “the focus is on the key headwinds to consumer spending for 2020.” “The Fed cutting rates three times last year and slowing labor and wage growth signal to consumers, who have the 2008 crisis still fresh in their minds, to be extra cautious,” Rubi said in regard to

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