PHOENIX — As we enter into a busy holiday shopping weekend, local economists say were beginning to see small signs of inflation cooling.
However, with tight budgets consumers are using different options to pay for gifts, and items this holiday season.
The National Retail Federation found 43% of people they surveyed say they don’t make enough to cover the costs.
In a recent report, they found These shoppers are looking for other ways to supplement their income, including dipping into savings (40%), taking on credit card debt (32%), using services like buy now, pay later (25%) and selling assets (22%).
The NFR survey consisted of 2,000 shoppers who still agreed that it’s important to spend on holiday gifts and celebrations.
ASU Professor Hitendra Chaturvedi tells ABC15 that there are predictions there will be a 5% increase in holiday sales over last year but none of that will matter when you factor in 9% inflation because that will not be growth.
Professor Chaturvedi agrees that shoppers are looking for other options to buy saying that Baby Boomers are most likely to use credit cards.
However, Millenials or Gen Z will use options like Buy now, Pay later, “ the concern in many quarters is that they are ending up buying products that they may not be able to afford,” said Professor Chaturvedi.
When it comes to deals, some retailers have an overstock because shopping habits have changed, so there may be some good deals out there to keep an eye out for, “you're not going to get a discount on every product. There are certain products that these Walmarts and the Targets and the Best Buys have bought a lot and some of them, they don't have much,” he added.
