79% of Celebrants Expect Inflation Impact
CHICAGO, May 24, 2022 (GlobeNewswire) – Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released a consumer sentiment study to identify how consumers plan to shop and celebrate Memorial Day 2022 and the expected impact of inflation on those plans. Overall, while most consumers plan to celebrate Memorial Day, they also plan to spend less, buy fewer items, and skip or reduce travel due to inflation.
Inflation Impact Findings Include:
- 33% of consumers expect a major inflation impact on their Memorial Day celebration. Low income consumers are 42% more likely to expect a major impact and 50% more likely not to celebrate this year.
- Dining out and holiday decor top consumers’ planned cutback lists. 49% of consumers will cut back on dining out, followed by 44% on decorations and 31% on alcohol and apparel.
- Consumers are cutting back on travel due to inflation. 27% of consumers plan to cut travel entirely, and 20% will travel a shorter distance this year. Low income consumers are 50% more likely not to celebrate this year.
- Consumers are looking for sales and coupons to save. 64% of consumers will buy sale items, 37% will use more coupons, and 36% will prepare budget-friendly snacks & meals to save this Memorial Day.
- 73% of consumers will cut back on spending, and 74% will buy fewer items due to inflation. High income consumers are 22% more likely to spend the same amount as in previous years.
Celebration and Shopping Plans Include:
- COVID will not impact Memorial Day plans for the majority of celebrants. 59% of consumers do not expect any lingering pandemic effect on their Memorial Day celebrations. Midwestern (Index 109 vs all consumers) and Southern (103) consumers are even less likely to expect an impact from COVID-19.
- Memorial Day plans look different across the country, but grilling is the most planned activity across regions. Roughly half of all celebrants expect to grill or gather with family/friends, no matter their location.
- Northeast consumers are more likely to travel. 17% of Northeastern consumers said they plan to travel vs. the 14% national average.
- Midwest consumers are the most likely to grill/BBQ or gather with family/friends. 61% of Midwesterners will grill/BBQ and 53% will gather with family/friends, the highest of all regions.
- Southern and Midwest consumers are the least likely to travel. Only 12% of consumers from both regions said they planned to travel for Memorial Day.
- Meat is the most popular planned food purchase. 85% of consumers who plan to buy food plan to purchase meat for Memorial Day, followed by fresh produce (67%) and deli items / prepared foods (33%).
- Beer is the most popular planned alcoholic beverage purchase. 75% of consumers who intend to purchase alcoholic beverages plan to buy beer, followed by wine (44%) and spirits (40%).
- Shoppers plan to shop in-store for Memorial Day. 92% of celebrants plan to shop in-store, with Grocery (67%), Mass (45%), and Club (29%) stores being the most popular channels. Only 19% of shoppers expect to shop online.
Numerator’s 2022 Memorial Day celebration and shopping survey was fielded from 4/28/22 – 5/2/22 to 1,646 individuals. Numerator’s Memorial Day inflation survey was fielded 5/20/22 – 5/23/22 to 1,462 consumers.
About Numerator:
Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research. Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide. The majority of Fortune 100 companies are Numerator clients.
