Amazon Prime Day is coming in July. Here's who else will be offering deals.

By Bill Peters

Recent foot-traffic trends at stores 'may signal that consumers are tiring of their shopping discipline and gearing up to hit the stores,' Placer.ai says

Higher prices have put a crimp in customer spending this year. But a new report says that months of thrift fatigue could result in a bigger appetite for spending next month, as retailers roll out deals to compete with Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Day.

The report, from retail customer-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai, found that since May, customer visits to stores that sell purely discretionary items -- things like furniture, electronics and athletic gear -- were still down when compared with last year. However, trends are beginning to catch up with where they were in 2022.

Some of that rebound could be due to Father's Day. But the report said the trend could "signal that consumers are tiring of their shopping discipline and gearing up to hit the stores."

"This could bode well for Prime Day, July 4th, and other upcoming sales events, as more and more consumers may be looking for an excuse to scratch the shopping itch and splurge on some low-cost discretionary items," according to the report, written by Placer.ai's Ethan Chernofsky.

Prime Day -- Amazon's (AMZN) massive online discount event -- is set for July 11-12. Other retailers are also planning to offer deals around that time, Placer.ai noted: Walmart Plus Week runs July 10-13, Target's Circle Week will be July 9-15, and Best Buy's Black Friday in July sale takes place July 10-12.

The report also found that since May, weekly visits at electronics retailer Best Buy Co. (BBY) topped those of its biggest physical-store rivals, Target Corp. (TGT) and Walmart Inc. (WMT). For Best Buy, weekly visits as of the seven-day period ending June 12 were up 25.1% compared with the period running from May 1 through May 7.

"The company saw its foot traffic spike the week of June 12-28, likely due to its Father's Day sale," the report said. "This indicates that shoppers are receptive to the brand's promotions and bodes well for the retailer's upcoming Black Friday in July event."

The reported also noted that the first half of the year tends to be light on bigger sales events but that holidays like Valentine's Day, Easter and Mother's Day still brought a jump in customer traffic to stores. That trend could indicate that customers were being particularly selective about their spending and reserving it for specific occasions -- or it could indicate pent-up demand.

"And the retail foot traffic spikes seen on the major and minor holidays during the first half of 2023 could also mean that newly disciplined shoppers are looking for an excuse to engage in some retail therapy," the report said.

The summer deals will follow a subdued first half of the year for many store chains, as higher grocery prices -- and a shift toward entertainment and travel -- eat up more of consumers' spending. Retailers have had to cut prices on items such as clothing and electronics after inventory piled up amid the pivot in demand.

And with student-loan payments set to resume after a pandemic-era pause, some analysts expressed concern about the impact that could have on consumer spending power later this year.

Shares of Amazon were down 0.2% on Wednesday.

-Bill Peters

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06-29-23 0849ET

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