The strain from the new coronavirus has caused American shoppers to bring their spending to a halt. The numbers since the first onslaught of the market sell off signaled the health of the economy has a grim outlook on the retail industry.
Consumers are curbing their spending on non-essential items such as beauty products, fashion/accessories and using their cash flow for items such as food and other essential supplies with the expectation of being quarantined for two or more weeks.
Since last month, financial markets have plummeted and consumers have begun to self-isolate amid a widening coronavirus pandemic—factors that are likely to hit the economy hard in the months ahead.
Strict social activity measures have gone into place to contain the outbreak which in turn will cause consumer to pullback in the coming months. Retail spending is the economy’s biggest pull and could feasibly bring it to a halt.