Poll: Bargain hunters cross tax brackets
Across income brackets, about nine in 10 people told the National Retail Federation they frequent low-price retailers.
Whether it’s via a new Goodwill store in Fairfield or marked-down merchandise at the summer Greenwich Sidewalk Sale Days, a new survey makes it clear that people will chase down a discount as they get wind of one — whatever the heft of their wallet.
A National Retail Federation poll of 3,000 people nationally finds no significant difference in the percentages of relatively wealthy people who will hunt down bargains versus those who are cashstrapped. Across income brackets, about nine in 10 people told the National Retail Federation they frequent low-price retailers, whether general chains like Family Dollar and Walmart, discount grocery stores like Aldi and Lidl, member warehouses like BJ’s Wholesale Club and Costco, or off-price clothiers like Marshalls and TJ Maxx.
Shoppers are most price-conscious when it comes to clothing and groceries, with more than 70 percent of NRF survey respondents citing the two categories, followed by furnishings and personal care products. More than six in 10 people told NRF they buy more items on sale today than they did five years ago.
NRF published the survey on the same day that a separate Siena Research Institute poll found consumer confidence at the highest level in New York since March 2017, with confidence still running behind a tandem survey on national sentiments published by the University of Michigan.
At the same time, a consumer price index maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor is up 2.3 percent in the past year, with some retailers stating they are seeing evidence that price awareness is increasingly top of mind for their customers, including Costco.
“When prices go up, we generally can find where people are more conscious,” said Richard Galanti, chief financial officer of Costco, speaking to investment analysts last week. “I remember back in the first part of (2008) when the economy was on fire and gas prices were north of $4 and some were saying it was going to go to north of $5, we saw a big increase in (volume).”