How Work From Home Has Reshaped What Americans Buy

livemint.com:

Americans are still spending more of their money on stuff than they did before the pandemic. There is little reason to think that is about to stop. Early in the pandemic, unable to spend on things such as traveling and dining out, and with their finances buoyed by government relief, people bought goods with abandon.

This played a role in the supply-chain snarls, the hefty price increases that beset the economy, and in retailers’ scramble to secure as much inventory as possible. As the economy gradually reopened there was a reversal that left many stores burdened with more than they needed. Now, the rebound in services’ share of spending seems to have ended, and retailers’ inventory problems largely have been wrung out.

Those selling furniture, electronics and appliances, for example, saw their inventory swell to as much as 1.75 times sales in December 2022, according to data from the Census Bureau. As of August, that ratio shrank back to 1.56, which is pretty much in line with prepandemic levels. U.S.

consumers are still devoting a lot of spending toward goods—a reshaping of the economy that, in addition to any far-reaching consequences it might have, suggests retailers’ 2023 holiday-season sales will be much higher than they might have imagined in 2019. Figures from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis show that U.S. consumers devoted a seasonally adjusted 33.3% of their spending to goods in September compared with an average of 31.4% in 2019.