New Report: Impact of Inflation on US Consumers

April 27, 2023

In the past year, following the pandemic, many markets have experienced high rates of inflation, which have in turn created a cost-of-living crisis for millions of consumers around the world. The world’s biggest economies are no exception. Deepened by global political crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, groceries, fuel and energy are the sectors most mentioned in daily news bulletins.

In this context, Rakuten Insight has surveyed panellists from its proprietary panels in the US to discover how the cost of living crisis has impacted them, their attitudes towards spending and their purchasing habits.

Key findings

• 41% of US consumers feel significantly impacted by inflation, with a further 41% feeling a need for caution in their household spending.
• Dishearteningly, a further 8% feel unable to cope with inflation.
• Only 3% of consumers have not noticed any change in habits. 63% checking prices, and 59% are cutting back on unnecessary spending.
• Actions taken to cope include buying cheaper groceries (72%), cutting back on leisure activities (69%) and seeking out deals (64%).
• Groceries (93%), Fuel (71%) and Utility Bills (58%) are the most impacted goods and services, highlighting the impact of the invasion of Ukraine.
• And the extent of the cost of living crisis is highlighted by ‘basic necessities’ (food, clothing, healthcare etc.) is the highest ranked on the most impacted aspect of basic household expenditure.

What has changed?

Compared to our survey in 2022, the impact of the war in Ukraine is clear:

• In 2022, 45% of US consumers felt that transport (car, fuel etc) was most affected by inflation; however, this number jumped to 71% in 2023.
• Similarly, housing costs, including energy, increased from 40% in 2022 to 58% in 2023.
• The impact of inflation on groceries has remained a consistent concern, with 83% choosing this as the most affected in 2022. However, in 2023 this still rose to 93%.

From our survey, the impact of inflation and the cost of living crisis on consumers is clear. Unless you are one of the lucky 10% who felt they have not been impacted at all, then you are likely to be cutting back, searching out deals and exercising caution in your household spending. Hopefully, the cost of living crisis improves globally throughout the remainder of 2023.

Download the report here!

For more infographics, updates and our original survey reports, follow us on LinkedIn or subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of the page.