What brought those sales numbers up in March? Retailers are thinking it may have had something to do with tax returns and hope to see the upward trend continue around the end of tax season.
Apparently, the difference in this year’s returns is not the two-thirds of the American public that are receiving them, but their willingness to spend those dollars instead of saving them.
Last year, most of that money never saw the light of day, and instead was carefully put away as Americans remained cautious over the sluggish economy and high unemployment numbers.
This year, analysts predict more spending from those refunds on items like electronics or furniture, but remain a little wary of the hiking gas prices.
In addition to the rapidly rising gas prices, will the mindset of most Americans (who receive an average of $3,000 in tax refunds this year) change enough from one year to the next to spend even some of it on a luxury purchase, or have the saving habits been formed? We’ll have to check the sales numbers from April and May to see if analysts’ predictions are correct.
Source: 9News, April 2011
