…At least that’s what the retailers are thinking. This Forbes article outlines the ways in which you, the consumer, have disappointed retailers. Keep this up and Santa will be giving you… oh I don’t know, something practical.
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright, and that the Christmas shopping season is the time of year when retailers make most of their profits. But this year, consumers — the people who used to be called customers — are shopping judiciously. Specifically, they are concerned about debt.
At long last, consumer debt worries are coming home to roost. Half of all Americans are concerned about their debt levels. That includes one in five who worry about their debts “all the time.” About one in ten isn’t even sure how much money they owe. A lot of that debt is on credit cards. It’s pretty serious; if this sounds like you, read the rest of the article:
Americans are declaring bankruptcy at record rates, with one in every 100 families affected by a bankruptcy…. Americans are now carrying $683 billion in revolving credit card debt. That’s not the amount we charge every month; it’s the outstanding unpaid balances on which people pay interest. And, according to a report by Cambridge Consumer Credit Index, 47% of the people who paid less than the full amount on their credit card bills in a recent month, made only the minimum payment due. In fact, only 13% of Americans with an outstanding balance could afford to pay more than half the balance.
Many people are having trouble paying the rent, let alone having a lavish holiday with lots of gifts under the tree.
Finally, I bring you these Christmas tidings: a majority of Americans believe the literal Biblical Christmas story; but the figure that frightens me is that 15% of Americans believe that Christ will return in their lifetimes. Think about that. More than one in eight Americans believe The World Will End before they die. When that is what you believe, what point is there in worrying about the environment, or Social Security, or much of anything else beyond today’s needs?
Never mind that everyone that has ever said they knew when the world would end has so far been proven wrong. Knock on wood.