For those who have worked in the world of retail, also known as “retail hell”, it is an absolutely brutal job that stresses the physical and mental health of millions of underpaid, overworked, and frustrated workers just trying to survive. However, according to CNBC, that has just become harder as retail sales have suffered a precipitous drop.
Consumer spending tumbled a record 16.4% in April as the backbone of the U.S. economy retrenched amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government report Friday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the advanced retail sales number to fall 12.3% after March’s reported 8.3% dive already had set a record for data going back to 1992. The March numbers were revised to be not as bad as the 8.7% initially reported.
Some 68% of the nation’s $21.5 trillion economy comes from personal consumption expenditures, which tumbled 7.6% in the first quarter just as social distancing measures aimed at containing the coronavirus began to take effect. (source)
According to the National Retail a minimum of 20% , a minimum of 20% of all retail sales are made in the month of December alone. Having worked in retail, these numbers are easily up to 40% for many, meaning that December is the “cash cow” month of the year. This is where the term “Black Friday” has its roots, since in the Friday after Thanksgiving to Christmas is the biggest spending time of the year where most money for retailers is made.
Right now, anywhere from 22% to 33% of the country is out of work. Those numbers are not getting better, and they will rise if a second round of COVID-19 appears, of which the likelihood is very high.
How can people buy stuff if they have no money? It’s impossible.
Retail sales are down right now, and this is just virus round one, and so many businesses are looking down the gullet of bankruptcy.
There will be no “sleigh rides” this Christmas, but rather a “slay ride” as we are seeing the preparations for a great retail massacre. Stores cannot survive if the season in which they make most of their money is a time when nobody can go out or spend money in serious quantities.
Do you think 2020 is interesting? Prepare for 2021, a year with potentially massive unemployment rates, tons of store closure, lots of empty retail space, and a lot of people with no hope at all.