Retail Briefing: Affordability, Brand Value & More
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Welcome to our retail insights briefing.
In this monthly email, we will curate the most important insights from our team of industry, political and economic experts and deliver them right in your inbox. Consider it your one stop shop for the data you need to know about the retail industry.
This month’s edition explores why consumers are abandoning purchases, which demographics are trading down and more.
Read on for recent insights into these topics and more, or download our full reports for a deeper dive.
Affordability is the leading cause of purchase journey abandonment
When asked about a recent attempt to make a purchase in four retail categories, non-purchase outcomes were far too common. Of the tested categories, respondents were more likely to abandon purchases in home furnishings and electronics than beauty and personal care. Shoppers often reported having too many products or stores to choose from when describing challenges. But ultimately, what drove non-purchases is difficulty affording items.
Explore our new report here about what’s driving consumers to abandon purchases.
Shoppers are satisfied with lower cost replacement brands
Inflation-weary consumers are fed up and making big changes to accommodate their budgets. For brands, that unfortunately means losing formerly loyal customers. We set out to understand how customer loyalty is shifting and heard one thing loud and clear: everything is too expensive. Inflation and its resulting household budgetary pressures caused consumers to pull back on spending, shifting their brand relationships.
For the consumers who swapped one brand for another, most are saving money. Not only are they benefiting from cost savings, these shoppers are also satisfied with their new brand. Plus, it doesn’t seem to be a particularly arduous task to find a replacement. Most (86%) shoppers said they found an alternative they liked within the first 3 new brands they tried.
Worse for brands, some customers are just biased toward novelty, making winning their loyalty even harder. Gen Zers in particular are prone to trying new brands. This is especially true in apparel, where 51% of Gen Z respondents said they’d reduced or stopped their shopping from a particular brand.
Read more about how increased cost of living is disrupting brand loyalty.
Consumers are increasingly reporting higher grocery prices due to tariffs
42% of adults are “very” concerned about the price of essential products rising due to tariffs. In particular, groceries are the leading concern, and the number of Americans noticing higher prices at the grocery store (79%) has risen relative to last month. The share of U.S. adults concerned over the cost of gasoline, in contrast, fell 5 points relative to July.
Mirroring reporting on it now being Trump’s economy, even Republicans are increasingly likely to blame President Trump for any price increases they attribute to tariffs, and slightly less likely to blame U.S. businesses.
Consumers who are worried about their finances are also scrutinizing brand value
Per Morning Consult Intelligence, high-income shoppers have been increasingly including dollar stores in their consideration set since October 2024. We’ve seen an uptick in the share of those consumers who are “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to consider buying a product from Dollar General, Family Dollar or Dollar Tree, growing from 41% to 49%. Why the shift? This group’s consumer sentiment trended upward in the same time period, so they’re not doom spending. It’s more likely that they’re feeling the strain of price increases and trying to keep discretionary spending in check. This group is more likely to have kids at home than the overall population of six-figure households, and $100,000 just doesn’t go as far for larger households. See more shopping habits of high-income discount shoppers here.
Consumer sentiment by income level
Each day, Morning Consult surveys thousands of U.S. consumers on their views regarding personal finances and business conditions, providing an unparalleled gauge of consumer sentiment in real-time.
High income earning adults — who tend to gain the most from factors like a stock market buoyed by hints of interest rate cuts — have had rising sentiment, whereas middle and lower income adults' ICS scores have trended flat or slightly down over the past few weeks. Explore more in our U.S. consumer confidence tracker.
Want more insights? Dive into additional analysis from our team of experts below.
- The Experience Economy Is Resurgent, but Only Among Select Consumers: High earners say they’ve increased their spending on experiences like live events, travel, and dining out in the past year.
- U.S. Consumer Income & Debt Tracker: Our new tracker provides a comprehensive view of American consumers' income and debt sources.
- The Evolving American Social Life: What brands need to know about how Americans are spending their leisure time in 2025 — and how this looks different than it has in the past.
Bobby Blanchard is the senior director of audience development at Morning Consult. @bobbycblanchard