We Bought All the Stuff… Is the Services Economy Our Next Spending Boom?

During the pandemic years, consumers couldn’t travel or go to large events, so spending switched from what had been an economy of experiences to an economy of stuff. We bought stuff to entertain at home, create a home office, make home cooking more fun and more efficient, make our pets comfy, workout at home, etc.

Now that many of us are vaccinated and the wave of infections from the Omicron variant has eased, are we ready to go on vacation?

While 75% of respondents to the October-November edition of The Freedonia Group National Online Consumer Survey noted that they were somewhat or very concerned about the current and future variants of the COVID-19 coronavirus, consumers are increasingly acting as if they are not concerned. While not all are traveling or going on vacation now, more people seem to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (or at least a willingness to see things as set for now) and are increasingly eating out, planning vacations, concert attendance, weddings and family reunions in the coming year.

This could result in reduced spending on our homes, yards, pets, etc. Of course, with work-from-home still common in many parts of the economy, there will still be call to buy what we need/want to keep our homes comfortable and functional.

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