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Election, Pandemic Are One-Two Punch in Retail’s Most Crucial Season
More than half of U.S. shoppers say they’ll have less spending money this holiday due to the pandemic, while nearly 7 in 10 say the election makes them uncertain about the economy.
An employee wearing a protective mask cleans a table in the shoe department at a store in New York.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
American shoppers—distracted and fearful as 2020 enters the final quarter—could still throw analysts expecting a record holiday a curveball in the kind of rip-the-rug-out revelation that’s become this year’s signature play.
Despite early projections of a knockout holiday, the busiest shopping time of the year may be marred by Americans too concerned to spend freely as an unprecedented election season and the continued pandemic land a one-two punch.