July retail sales through electronics and appliance stores were up 0.4% sequentially from June, but down 11.3% from July 2021, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Online and other non-store sales were up 2.7% month over month and 18.1% higher year over year, it said. Core retail sales as calculated by NRF rose in July even as overall sales reported by the Census Bureau remained flat on a monthly basis, said the association. Both calculations showed strong year-over-year gains as consumers kept shopping despite high inflation, it said. “Consumers are adapting to higher prices by prioritizing essentials like food and back-to-school items, and retailers are working hard to absorb the impact of higher costs and help customers stretch their hard-earned dollars,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay. “However, policy measures like removing China tariffs, enacting smart immigration reform and investing in supply chain resiliency are needed to relieve inflationary pressure and lower costs for American families.”

U.S. consumers have drawn an average $616.73 this year from savings accounts to cover everyday costs, said eMarketer Monday. “If shoppers continue to dip into savings, they will look for the lowest prices," said the analyst firm. EMarketer cited figures from a June New York Life survey saying nine in 10 adults were concerned about a recession. Some 45% said they were cutting back on dining out and ordering from restaurants, 39% were reducing travel and vacations, and 37% were going to fewer events.

Global contact center-as-a-service market [CCaaS] revenue will reach $15.6 billion by 2027, up from $4.9 billion this year, said a Monday Juniper Research report. Growth drivers will be services offered within subscription-based analytics, AI-enabled chatbots and personalized video solutions, said the research firm. Cloud-based CCaaS solutions provide the services required to run contact centers over multiple inbound and outbound communication channels.

Cineplex generated 439% quarterly revenue growth to $349.9 million, proof that consumers are back to theaters “from every cohort and for all genres of films,” said CEO Ellis Jacob on a Q2 earnings call Thursday. “Like our industry peers globally, we are highly encouraged by the box office momentum reflected in our second quarter results,” he said. Comparing pre-COVID-19 pandemic periods with 2022, April's box office reached 56% of the box office volume of April 2019, and May reached 72%, June 89% and July 85%, he said. “We are driving these strong results even as consumers contend with concerns of inflation and speculation of a looming recession,” said Jacob. The theatrical business “has historically been resistant to recessionary pressures,” he said. Going to the movies “is an affordable form out-of-home entertainment,” especially compared with live sports and concerts, he said.

Back-to-school (BTS) sales are showing early growth in the office supplies category, with unit sales up 2% in the three weeks ended July 23, compared with the same 2021 period, reported NPD Friday. E-commerce BTS unit sales were up 35% year over year, after a 2% decline for the same period last year due to consumers returning to stores, and to tough comparisons with strong e-commerce performance in 2020, it said. “Unit performance this back-to-school season has been stronger than anticipated and the growth in e-commerce speaks to the importance of a digital strategy and omni-retail strategy,” said Leen Nsouli, executive director and office supplies industry analyst for NPD. “We expect the brick-and-mortar channel will see dollar growth as we near the mid-season period, as more consumers head out to stores to take advantage of back-to-school promotions.”

The number of buy now, pay later (BNPL) consumers is expected to top 900 million globally by 2027, increasing 150% from 360 million in 2022, reported Juniper Research Monday. The “substantial growth” will be driven by “the anticipated economic downturn, which will increase the demand for low-cost credit solutions,” it said. BNPL services enable consumers to spread the cost of their purchases without interest charges, “making them a highly attractive alternative to credit cards,” said Juniper. BNPL services also do “not require hard credit checks and an increasing number of merchants are accepting this payment method,” making it easier to access for consumers than “traditional credit,” it said.

Tech occupations across all industry sectors increased by an estimated 239,000 positions in July, according to CompTIA's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. July’s unemployment rate for tech occupations was 1.7% in July, it said. Tech industry employment had a net gain of 12,700 workers in July, the 20th straight month of employment growth, said CompTIA Friday. Tech industry employment jumped by 143,700 jobs in 2022's first seven months, an increase of 55% from January-July a year earlier, it said.

Western Digital’s “expectations” for calendar 2022 demand growth have “moderated” since its last earnings release in late April, said CEO David Goeckeler on an earnings call Friday for fiscal Q4 ended July 1. As the fiscal fourth quarter progressed, “we saw consumer spending soften,” impacting both retail flash and hard disk drive demand, he said. “This weakness has migrated to the consumer PC end market as we enter the second half of the calendar year.” The industry generally expects PC unit shipments to decline by about 10% in calendar 2022, he said. “We are seeing our PC OEM customers aggressively right-size their inventory to reflect current demand conditions, which will impact our business in this market in the second half of the calendar year.” Following that “correction,” Western Digital expects “a more normal flow of business going forward, as we believe PCs will continue to fulfill broader use cases as the foundation of the increasingly common hybrid enterprise,” he said. Industry expectations for smartphone unit sales also “have come down in recent months, led primarily by reduced demand in China,” said Goeckeler. Analysts expect smartphone industry unit volume to decrease by a “mid-single-digit percentage” year over year in calendar 2022, he said. “While we are well-positioned in supplying flash memory for 5G smartphones, we are also seeing our largest customers aggressively resetting their inventories for these products.”

Despite functioning at "a slower pace," the economy “still does not appear to be in a recession and remains unlikely to enter one this year,” said National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz Tuesday. The underlying strength of the economy is “strong enough to deal with inflation and keep a recession at bay -- or short-lived even if we are wrong," Kleinhenz said. Gross domestic product declined 1.6% year over year in Q1 and 0.9% in Q2. Though two consecutive quarters of decline is a common informal indicator of a recession, “the official declaration is up to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which defines a recession as a significant decline spread across the economy,” said the economist: “The bureau has yet to rule on whether the current downturn meets that definition.” Private final sales to domestic purchasers remained in positive territory for the first half of the year, though flat in Q2, and employment, retail sales, income and industrial production had slower growth, “but none have contracted,” he said. A significant downturn in employment could signal a recession, Kleinhenz said; the June unemployment rate was 3.6%, just above the 50-year pre-COVID-19 pandemic low of 3.5% in January 2020. Economic indicators remain strong, but “it is now clear that the world has changed” since the beginning of the year,” Kleinhenz said, citing the persistence of COVID-19, continuing supply chain challenges, the ongoing war in Ukraine and other issues driving inflation. NRF “remains constructive in our outlook,” holding to a 6%-8% year-on-year retail sales growth projection. “The key concern remains inflation and the Fed’s policy moves to contain it,” he said.

Two-thirds of U.S. consumers have cut their spending on discretionary items in the past six months due to inflation, and 38% expect to spend less during the holiday season, said a Digital River survey report Tuesday. Despite reports of consumer “revenge travel,” the survey said 40% of consumers are spending less on summer vacations; 49% said they're cutting travel expenses. Online purchases remain “high,” Digital River said, with 42% of U.S. adults saying they make an e-commerce purchase at least once a week. Over half of respondents planned to increase online shopping due to convenience, but 45% said not being able to see products in person was a major barrier to online shopping, followed by delivery fees (35%). Of those surveyed who use the buy now, pay later payment option, 64% reported using it more often in the past six months, said the survey. Half used the option due to convenience, 48% used it due to tight finances and 44% because of higher prices, it said. Of online shoppers who have observed higher prices, 47% reduced their online shopping, 35% tried to find discount codes and 29% used comparison sites more frequently, said the report.