Nearly 70 percent of consumers believe the country is in a recession, with 68 percent believing it will worsen in the following months, according to a study from Numerator, a data and insights company.
More than 1,000 consumers who are users of the company’s commerce platform were polled.
Consumers are worried about the rising prices of essentials like food and housing, with 74 percent citing it as a problem.
About 43 percent of all shoppers interviewed indicated that spending money on restaurants, bars, or food delivery services has caused discomfort. This has caused 41 percent to say that, in the coming months, they will cut back on these services. Broken out by income level, that number grew to 47 percent for lower-income respondents and 39 percent for higher-income respondents.
Among all income levels, roughly 25 percent said they will reduce their snacks and candy purchases, and 23 percent said they will purchase less alcohol.
This type of discretionary spending may continue to contract, “In the coming months, consumers expect to be slightly less comfortable with discretionary spending as they are now,” said the report.
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