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Are shoppers running out of cash?

By
Lisa Fickenscher
Published Nov. 14, 2015, 3:23 a.m. ET

It’s not just the warm weather.

Consumers have been slow to whip out their wallets this fall despite enticing prices and retailers’ best efforts to lure them in.

Pundits have been blaming an unseasonably warm fall for lackluster sales, particularly winter apparel — but consumers have been putting the breaks on all types of spending.

Wall Street fears shoppers could be running out of cash.

The US stock market slumped to its second-biggest weekly loss of the year on Friday.

Overall retail sales were up an anemic 0.1 percent in October, less than the forecasted 0.3 percent rise. That follows stagnant sales in September, the Commerce Department said.

Major chains have been feeling the pinch even longer, culminating in a gloomy week as shares of Macy’s, Nordstrom, JCPenney and others tumbled as much as 15 percent this week on tepid third-quarter results.

At the same time, economic indicators like strong job growth, rising incomes and low gas prices would suggest consumers should be flocking to the malls.

“What I’m seeing since the fourth quarter of last year when the Affordable Care Act kicked in, is that consumers’ discretionary income is strained,” said Richard Church, managing director of Discern Securities, adding that consumers are spending more on overall living expenses.

Whatever the reason, consumers are spending less this holiday season — and buying gifts for fewer people, according to America’s Research Group, which also found that folks are delaying their shopping to get the best deals.

The number of Americans spending $500 or less this year on Christmas jumped to 28.4 percent from 17.3 percent a year ago, ARG said. At the same time, 32 percent of shoppers — or twice as many as last year — said they would wait until Black Friday to do most of their shopping.

“The only way to change that attitude is to hit consumers over the head with big discounts of 60 to 70 percent,” said Britt Beemer, chief executive of ARG.

Among the retailers who attracted more shoppers were discounters like Kohl’s, which reported that same-store sales in the third quarter were up 1 percent.