Question of the WeekHow Has US Discretionary Consumer Spending Shifted This Year? Coresight Research October 26, 2020 QUESTION OF THE WEEK: How Has US Discretionary Consumer Spending Shifted This Year? We estimate that US consumers spent a total of $417 billion less across 17 major discretionary goods and services categories in the first eight months of 2020 than they did in the same period of 2019. Some discretionary categories, such as media products and sports goods, have gained from the Covid-19 crisis, but these gains have been outweighed by substantial declines in a number of service categories and in clothing and footwear. This document was generated for Other research you may be interested in: January 2026 US Retail Sales: Stable Growth Trajectory Consistent with ML ProjectionsUS Consumers’ Perceptions of Tariffs: Data GraphicWeekly US Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2026, Week 9: The TJX Companies and Ross Stores Announce Store ExpansionsAnalyst Corner: What’s Happening in China’s Economy? Analyzing Retail and Consumer Metrics with Madhav Pitaliya
