Signs of reconciliation continue... and that doesn't always mean "cutting back"

Observation:  A pair of recent stories from Marketing Daily serves as an illustration that while some people might be continuing their more pragmatic spending style, others have moved on.  First, there was an article about lowering expectations at Tiffany’s… which sources loosely attribute to the Occupy Wall Street movement (I personally think that might be a stretch, but the idea of being more conservative is easy to believe).  Click here to see that story.

Another posting explains how the use of private-label (aka store branded) credit cards is down.  Click here to see that story.  But not everyone is "cutting back."  

Implications:   Our description of the current consumer climate as “a period of reconciliation” seems to be more appropriate with each passing week… as families acclimate their spending behaviors to the new set of realities they have been dealt in the post-recession era.


That doesn't mean they've stopped spending.  Some families might be deciding that things have calmed-down enough that they can get back to the task of living.  This story from Marketing Daily suggests that some consumers are getting BACK to indulging on luxury brands, particularly where automotive is concerned.  (Click to link.)

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.