[ModernRetail] Retailers could be in for a rough summer

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Don’t panic. Plan ahead.

• 60% of consumers are tracking spending more carefully.
• Most expect a recession within the next year.
• 37% plan to reduce summer spending.
• 32% plan to focus on buying essentials.

“If the prices go up, the capacity to pass down prices to consumers is very limited because prices are already high,” Chadha said. “But things are very fluid, and every week or every day things change, so who knows.”

Retailers will also face a difficult puzzle later this summer in ordering inventory for the holidays while trying to predict consumer demand. “If we believe that the consumer is going to hold back on spending, then we may have enough of what is needed,” Rodrigo said. But if the demand stays steady, products may be in short supply.

Additionally, as some customers are rushing to make big purchases now, that could have a ripple effect on sales. Panic buying may inflate economic activity in April and lead to a slowdown in the upcoming months, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee told CBS’s “Face The Nation,” per CNBC.

Retailers could be in for a rough summer

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Until recently, most consumer giants stuck to the word “uncertainty” to describe the future. Now, they’ve begun offering more specifics. Kimberly-Clark estimates that the trade war will add $300 million in new costs for the company. Procter & Gamble warned it may raise prices to offset new expenses. Chipotle saw anxious shoppers cut back on burrito bowls.

Big brands are officially worried about American shoppers | NPR | Friday, April 25, 2025