The market did not like what it saw from final retail holiday sales numbers in 2022, which will be a tough year for retailers.
Trucking data shared by DHL with CNBC shows e-commerce sales remain strong in many categories while core consumer markets are in decline.
“E-commerce continues to boom.
DHL describes significant growth in e-commerce, and logistics companies are investing heavily in that segment.
“Other areas that are still growing fairly quickly for us are automotive and advanced engineering, manufacturing, high-end consumer goods and spirits. Food and life sciences are also doing well,” Monkmeyer said. .
Data from the National Retail Federation released Wednesday showed that online and out-of-store sales had the biggest year-over-year gains, as the holiday season saw the biggest year-over-year growth, despite a year-over-year downturn in year-end and New Year sales. increased by 9.5% during
But Monkmeyer said DHL’s core retail consumer continued to languish, with near-record inventories clearly showing a pullback. As a result, more retailers are cutting prices to clear inventory.
In December, DHL Supply Chain CEO Scott Sureddin told CNBC he expected more discounts after the holidays. “We have never seen inventory levels like this and since the beginning of this year, retailers cannot continue to maintain this inventory, so the discounts they have been promoting must continue,” he said. rice field.
Inflation is one reason consumers are frugal on their holiday spending.
Retail sales data released Wednesday showed a 1.1% decline in December, slightly above the 1% forecast.
The year-end and New Year sales period has faced difficult year-on-year comparisons given the Covid boom, but Monkmeyer is confident things will turn around. Inflationary pressures in the supply chainBelow pandemic peak levels, including fares. Recent inflation measures, both the consumer price index and the producer price index, provide confirmation of easing inflation.
“I think we’ll hit a turning point in the middle to late Q2. Sea container costs moving from $20,000 to $3,000 per container will drive down costs for a range of products. is expected to drop and continue to drop slowly, but I think consumers will notice it soon and hopefully we will return to some of the spending that we have seen over the past two years.”
