Despite a bountiful holiday season for Retailers inflation fears are on the Rise for a large portion of americans Consumer prices rose .8 percent last Month putting the annual rate of Inflation at 6.8 percent for the year Ending in november federal officials Blame the increase on pandemic-related Supply chain issues for more let's bring In senior retail reporter business Insider anya kane anya great to see you As always americans are spending more For goods yet they seem to keep buying What's driving that and do you expect The trend to continue Thanks so much for having me um and and Yes in terms of some of these inflation Fears we are seeing uh the sticker shock Maybe in grocery stores and whatnot um But at the same time it was a very Successful holiday season um we might See some of these inflation uh numbers Start to go down mid 2022 so there's Kind of a light on the horizon in that Sense um but at the same time It's it's one of those things i think People are just sort of like these are Essentials where where costs are rising This is food we're talking about this is Gas uh stuff people need to survive so It's not like anyone can just like stop Uh you know shopping at the grocery Store necessarily Speaking of that successful holiday
Season mastercard says that holiday Spending rose by eight and a half Percent this year despite those price Hikes what specifically are people Buying Yeah this year was a great year for Jewelry actually weirdly enough and Apparel and so sort of interesting after Sort of a pandemic wide trend of Everyone sort of dressing down a bit That those items would tick back up once More according to mastercard so it kind Of is a sign that maybe people are Switching things up a bit uh you know in This kind of late stage of the pandemic I mean who doesn't love jewelry right How might higher prices impact families And businesses across the country and is This confined to regional pockets Yeah that's a great question um in terms Of regional pockets places with a higher Cost of living this is going to hit People much harder right because they're Going to their budgets are going to be Basically going through the roof in some Cases um and then of course with lower Income families this is going to be Hitting them much harder because they Just have less wiggle room and without Any more stimulus checks on the horizon A lot of people are going to be hurting Over some of this stimulus because it's Again it's not just about you know goods That you might want to have it's goods
That you really need to have That is tough what are some long-term Lessons the retail industry has learned From the pandemic and how might we see Them applied going forward Yeah great question i i would say the Biggest one is e-commerce is here to Stay right um what what was basically The pandemic did for e-commerce what you Know a number of years i mean like it Basically penetration move forward so Quickly in terms of people uh adopting E-commerce who maybe were reluctant to Otherwise and so the biggest thing is That you know continuing to invest in a Good e-commerce options delivery uh Quick fulfillment uh buy online pick up In stores is going to be the way forward For these retailers in order to keep Attracting the customers and then the Other thing is with all the inflation Happening um that's going to potentially Benefit some of the really discount Retailers and the retailers that make Their name by bringing value to people So think about your costcos and your Walmarts um if people are turning to Them to get uh more bang for their buck So to speak then that's going to be a Good deal for them in the long run how Do small businesses family owned shops How do they play into all of this Yeah right with i mean unfortunately They don't have the same scale as some
Of these national retailers so um They're going to need more support from Whether that's government or local Consumers who can afford to shop there Um but it's definitely a situation that Plays more into the hands of the National retailers that have that Massive scale and can really leverage That um right now for people who are mom And pops and for consumers it's just Going to be a matter of trying to hold On until some of these logistical issues Clear up Anya kane thank you Thanks for having me
