Companies see rising consumer spending despite headwinds

In the first quarter of this year, the U.S. economy was hit by high inflation, supplychain disruptions and the COVID-19 omicron variant. Despite those headwinds, consumer spending increased for many goods and services.

Consumers’ resilience was highlighted in the quarterly financial results released in the past few weeks by some of Connecticut’s largest companies. Encouraged by those numbers, executives at those firms expect to see rising demand during the remainder of the year.

“The consumer, on the back side of the pandemic, is looking to engage. They’re going to look to travel, socialize and get out of their homes,” Brian Wenzel, chief financial officer of Stamford-based Synchrony, the country’s largest provider of private-label and storebrand credit cards, said in an interview. “Consumers want to get back to life as normal.”

Synchrony customers’ purchase volume totaled about $40 billion in the first quarter, up 17 percent from the same period in 2021 — well ahead of inflation. At the same time, the

No. 187 company on the 2021 Fortune list grew its average number of active customer accounts by 6 percent to about 70 million.

Buoyed by the widespread easing of COVID-19-related travel restrictions, Norwalkbased Booking Holdings, the No. 424 Fortune company, saw its customers’ gross bookings hit about $27 billion, rocketing 129 percent from a year ago. Gross bookings refer to the total dollar value, generally including taxes and fees, of all travel services booked by customers.

“There are still restrictions and inconve

Hearst Connecticut Media People shop on Main Street in Westport last week. Several of Connecticut’s largest companies have seen rising demand for goods and services this year.