NEW REALITIES
Today's consumers are facing harsh financial realities, with fewer than half feeling comfortable in their current situations.
NEW REALITIES
How are consumers faring financially?
NEW ROUTINES
Today's consumers are adjusting to "post-COVID" routines and lifestyles, heavily impacted by their current work styles.
Highlights from the analysis
Financial struggles span income levels– many high income households are struggling just as much as low income ones.
Inflation is more heavily impacting those already struggling, and consumers expect it to get worse before it gets better.
Households with more financial flexibility are stocking-up on sale items and searching for deals rather than cutting back on non-essential spending.
Spending in non-essential categories was down in the first three months of 2022 vs. 2021, particularly among struggling households with low purchase power.
Work styles have a close tie to personal lifestyle preferences, with on-site workers favoring out-of-home activities.
Remote & hybrid workers are spending more online, tech-forward in both their work styles and shopping methods.
Average grocery spend & meal kit usage remains high among individuals working from home, as does their media consumption and technology usage.
On-site workers are driving QSR trips— particularly at breakfast time. They are also driving weekday in-store shopping trips along with non-working individuals.
What do "post-COVID" lifestyles look like?
NEW ROUTINES
STRUGGLING (LOW PP*)
STRUGGLING (HIGH PP*)
PUSHING ON
PROSPERING
COMFORTABLY RETIRED
This group’s finances are extremely tight and inflation has impacted them heavily, leading to declining financial situations. Individuals in this group have lower incomes and are highly concerned about the future & making ends meet— half of the group members are not currently employed.
Finances are also tight for this group, though they have slightly higher incomes to work with than struggling low purchase power consumers. They’ve experienced heavy inflation impacts & declining finances over the past two years, and they are very concerned about the future.
Neutral or comfortable with finances, this group skews a bit younger and has only experienced slight inflationary impacts. These individuals are less worried about inflation or making ends meet, and their finances have generally improved or held steady in the past two years.
This group feels comfortable with their current finances and has experienced little-to-no inflationary impact to-date. Their financial situation has generally improved over the past two years and they’re more concerned with work, family and world events than they are making ends meet.
Comfortable with finances, individuals in this group have an average age of 66 and none are currently employed. The vast majority say inflation has not impacted their finances, and they’re not worried about it in the future. Their financial situation has stayed the same in the past two years.
19%
13%
29%
30%
9%
The "New Realities" portion of this study leverages a custom segmentation analysis investigating how inflation has and will impact consumers across various financial segments. The five core segments identified are outlined below.
Toggle between segment descriptions & demographic profiles
SEGMENT DESCRIPTIONS
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES
GROUP DESCRIPTIONS
TECHNOLOGY PROFILES
The "New Routines" portion of this study leverages a cross-section of respondents' work-from-home status to understand consumption and behaviors within the landscape of today's workforce. The four key work-style groups are outlined below.
Toggle between group descriptions & technology profiles
This group is primarily comprised of retired individuals over the age of 65. They’re more likely to live in rural settings and come from two-person households. In their free time, they enjoy many leisure activities such as reading, gardening & landscaping, cooking and going out to eat.
NOT WORKING
29%
On-site workers skew slightly younger, though span all income levels and urbanicities fairly equally. They enjoy getting out of the house and visit QSRs more frequently than other working groups, particularly for breakfast. Many are front-line workers in teaching, healthcare, food services and manufacturing.
FULLY ON-SITE
38%
Fully remote workers are more likely to be Millennial & Gen X high income individuals living in cities. They’re heavy online shoppers and place online orders more frequently than any other group. Their most common professions include finance, banking, insurance, sales, IT services and human resources.
FULLY REMOTE
16%
Hybrid workers are primarily high income Gen Z and Millennials living in cities. They’re less likely to enjoy cooking and are heavy users of meal kits & delivery services. Their primary occupations include post-secondary education, real estate, architecture & design, law and advertising.
HYBRID WORK
17%
44% Boomers+ (124)
65% Low Income (209)
32% Rural (117)
36% Retired or Disabled (145)
39% Rent Home (132)
33% Gen X (130)
80% High Income (190)
40% Suburban (110)
60% Employed Full-time (128)
70% Own Home (112)
52% Gen Z / Millennial (133)
56% Low Income (180)
39% Urban (111)
36% Student or Part-Time (144)
37% Rent Home (126)
70% Millennial / Gen X (132)
83% High Income (199)
42% Suburban (114)
71% Employed Full-time (153)
71% Own Home (115)
76% Age 65+ (312)
58% High Income (139)
37% Rural (133)
90% Retired or Homemaker (359)
91% Own Home (147)
*Purchase Power, annual income controlled for household size and cost of living
% of group indexed vs. total
21% Technology late majority (119)
28% Use PC 1-2 hrs. daily (152)
10% Use mobile <1 hr. daily (169)
20% Read print newspaper (128)
79% Facebook users (106)
40% Own smart home speaker (90)
43% Technology early majority (106)
19% Use PC 6-8 hrs. daily (111)
38% Use mobile 3-5 hrs. daily (108)
47% Listen to AM/FM radio (106)
28% Snapchat users (113)
43% Own smart home speaker (97)
20% Technology innovators (137)
37% Use PC 8+ hrs. daily (171)
18% Use mobile 8+ hrs. daily (128)
26% Listen to podcasts (125)
28% LinkedIn users (147)
47% Own smart home speaker (107)
18% Technology innovators (118)
35% Use PC 8+ hrs. daily (163)
18% Use mobile 8+ hrs. daily (123)
28% Listen to podcasts (138)
31% LinkedIn users (165)
51% Own smart home speaker (115)
% of group indexed vs. total
SEGMENT DESCRIPTIONS
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES
TECHNOLOGY PROFILES
GROUP DESCRIPTIONS