CNN (December 7)
“With days left to reach a trade deal with the European Union, the stakes have never been higher.” Boris Johnson “will have to decide whether sticking to his guns on national sovereignty… makes real-world sense given the economic price the United Kingdom will pay if negotiations fail.” In a no-deal exit “UK companies, already reeling from the pandemic, would lose tariff-free, quota-free access to a market of 450 million consumers that is currently the destination for 43% of British exports.”
Tags: Access, Consumers, EU, Johnson, Market, Negotiations, No-deal, Pandemic, Quotas, Sovereignty, Stakes, Tariffs, Trade, UK
Atlanta Journal Constitution (November 17)
“Despite five consecutive months of growth, Georgia has 366,000 fewer people employed than before the pandemic.” Though seasonal work is often “low-paid and short-term,” many people are now desperate for whatever “they can find.” This year, however, “traditional stores are struggling as consumers venture out less ahead of the holiday shopping season. Many businesses have delayed hiring plans, unsure about demand for their goods and services.”
Tags: Consumers, Delayed, Demand, Desperate, Employed, Georgia, Growth, Hiring, Holiday shopping, Low-paid, Pandemic, Seasonal work, Short term
WARC (October)
“Almost two-in-five marketers (38%) in Asia Pacific are allocating more than 30% of their budgets on mobile marketing and advertising, according to data from WARC and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)…. In APAC, mobile commerce is far more popular than across other regions which makes it all the more important to master the e-commerce experience as consumers look to shop online more post-COVID.”
Tags: Advertising, APAC, Budgets, Commerce, Consumers, E-commerce, Experience, Marketers, Marketing, Mobile, Online, Post-Covid, Shop
Reuters (October 19)
“China’s economic recovery accelerated in the third quarter as consumers shook off their coronavirus caution, although the weaker-than-expected headline growth suggested persistent risks for one of the few drivers of global demand.”
Tags: Caution, China, Consumers, Coronavirus, Drivers, Expected, Global demand, Growth, Persistent, Recovery, Risks, Weaker
Bloomberg (September 24)
“As the likelihood of additional federal stimulus fades, U.S. stock investors are returning their focus to the coronavirus pandemic and not liking what they see.” Consumers are again cutting back and “the prospects for a vaccine in the next few months have also waned just as the latest data shows an uptick in cases.” Moves by the Federal Reserve and “$3 trillion of federal stimulus helped fuel a torrid five-month rally that began in March,” but “their limitations have become clear.”
Tags: Consumers, Coronavirus, Cutting back, Fed, Limitations, Pandemic, Rally, Stimulus, Stock investors, U.S., Uptick, Vaccine
New York Times (May 30)
“E-commerce has been embraced for all manner of goods and services — books, travel, groceries, electronics — but auto sales have resisted the trend.” Consumers do frequently conduct research over the internet, but ultimately “have gone to dealers for most transactions. With the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, that is changing.”
Tags: Auto sales, Books, Consumers, Dealers, E-commerce, Electronics, Goods, Groceries, Internet, Research, Services, Travel
WARC (May 7)
“Marketers are readying themselves for a post-pandemic world in which consumer behaviours have changed, but they should consider not just what those behaviours are but why they have emerged so quickly.” Underlying attitudes may not actually shift deeply given the change was abrupt and largely unwilling.
Tags: Abrupt, Attitudes, Behaviors, Change, Consumers, Marketers, Post-pandemic, Shift, Underlying, Unwilling
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“Economic activity in China cooled further in August.” Economists had expected a rebound from the troughs of July. Instead, “softness was visible last month in nearly every aspect of the Chinese economy, with industrial output and retail sales data pointing to sluggish demand and low confidence among businesses and consumers.”
Tags: August, China, Confidence, Consumers, Demand, Economy, Industrial output, Retail sales, Sluggish, Softness, Troughs
Boston Globe (September 8)
“President Trump’s trade war with China isn’t just about how much the next pair of running shoes will cost American consumers…. Its impact is spreading like a virus to all segments of the US economy, affecting the manufacturing supply chain, with the potential to whack consumer confidence.”
Tags: China, Consumers, Economy, Manufacturing, Supply chain, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Virus
Washington Post (August 17)
“American consumers are increasingly propping up the global economy,” but it’s unclear that they can keep playing this role or even continue propping up the U.S. economy. “A number of signs point to a possible downturn in the United States, economists are growing more skeptical that consumers will continue to open up their wallets as freely. A failure to do so could hasten the arrival of the first U.S. recession in a decade.
Tags: Consumers, Downturn, Economists, Failure, Global economy, Skeptical, U.S., Wallets
