AI智能总结
What is DrivingDiscretionary Spendingin 2025? See which discretionary retail categories are gainingmomentum by delivering value, accessible upgrades, andimmersive experiences. Key Takeaways: 1.Value Wins in 2025: Discount & Dollar Stores and Off-Price Apparel areoutperforming as consumers prioritize value and the “treasure-hunt”experience. 2.Small Splurges Over Big Projects: Clothing and Home Furnishing trafficremains strong as shoppers favor accessible wardrobe updates and decorrefreshes instead of major renovations. 3.Big-Ticket Weakness: Electronics and Home Improvement visits continue tolag, reflecting a continued deferment of larger purchases. 4.Bifurcation in Apparel: Visits to off-price and luxury segments are growing,while general apparel, athleisure, and department stores face ongoingpressures from consumer trade-downs. 5.Income Dynamics Shape Apparel: Higher-income shoppers sustain luxuryand athleisure, while off-price is driving traffic from more lower-incomeconsumers. 6.Beauty Normalizes but Stays Relevant: After a pandemic-driven surge, YoYdeclines likely indicate that beauty visits are stabilizing; shorter trips are givingway to longer visits as retailers deploy new tech and immersive experiences. An Overview of Discretionary Retail Traffic Economic headwinds, including tariffs and higher everyday costs, are limitingdiscretionary budgets and prompting consumers to make more selective choicesabout where they spend. But despite these pressures, foot traffic to severaldiscretionary retail categories continues to thrive year-over-year (YoY). Fitness and Apparel Lead Of the discretionary categories analyzed,fitness and apparel had the strongestyear-over-year traffic trends – likely thanks to consumersfinding perceived value inthese segments. Fitnessand apparel (boosted byoff-price)appeal to value-driven, experience seekingconsumers –fitness thanks to its membership model of unlimited visits for an oftenlow fee, and off-price with its discount prices and treasure-hunt dynamic. Bothcategories may also be riding a cultural wave tied to thegrowing use of GLP-1s, asmore consumers pursuefitness goals and refresh their wardrobes to match changinglifestyles and sizes. Electronics and Home Improvement Lag While Home FurnishingPulls Ahead Big-ticket categories, including electronics, also faced significant challenges, as tighterconsumer budgets hamper growth in the space. Traffic to home improvementretailers also generally declined, aslagging home salesand consumers putting offcostly renovations likely contributed to the softness in the space. But home furnishing visits pulled ahead in July and August 2025 – benefitting fromstrong performances at discount chains such asHomeGoods– suggesting thatconsumers are directing their home-oriented spending towards more accessibledecor. Beauty Faces Challenges The beauty sector – typically a resilient "affordable luxury" category – alsoexperienced declines in recent months. The slowdown can be partially attributed tostabilization following several years ofintense growth, but it may also mean thatconsumers are simplifying their beauty routines or shifting their beauty buying online. Bottom Line: ●Traffic tofitness and apparel chains – led by off-price – continued to grow YoYin 2025, as value and experiences continue to draw consumers.●Consumers are shopping for accessible home decor upgrades to refresh theirspace rather than undertaking major renovations.●Shoppers are holding offon big-ticket purchases, leading to YoY declines in theelectronics and home improvement categories.●Beauty has experienced softening traffic trends as the sector stabilizesfollowing its recent years of hypergrowth as shoppers simplify routines andshift some of their spending online. The Home Furnishings Category Makes A Turnaround Suburban And Small Town Visits Drive Gains After two years of visit declines, the Home Furnishings category rebounded in 2025,with visits up 4.9% YoY between January and August. By contrast, Home Improvementcontinued its multi-year downwardtrend, though the pace of decline appears to haveslowed. So what’s fueling Home Furnishings’ resurgence while Home Improvement visitsremain soft? Probably a combination of factors, including a more affluent shopperbase and a product mix that includes a variety of lower-ticket items. Home Furnishing's More Affluent Audience On the audience side, this category draws a much larger share of visits fromsuburban and urban areas, with a median household income well above that of homeimprovement shoppers. The differences are especially pronounced when analyzingthe audience in theircaptured markets– indicating that the gap stems not just fromstore locations, but from meaningful differences in the types of consumers eachcategory attracts. Home improvement's larger share of rural visits is not accidental – homeimprovement leaders have been intentionally expanding intosmaller marketsfor awhile. But while betting on rur