It is – traditionally – being assumed that discretionary goods expenditures are more volatile than staples (non-durable goods) because of their correlation with the consumer cycle, reflecting economic expansion and recession
This may well be true over time but does not appear today to be a factor weighing as much as the shift within the discretionary goods segment
Although clothing & footwear, household equipment, home furnishings, automobiles, and auto parts continue to dominate the segment, spending allocated at these goods is on a downward trend as a percentage of total personal consumption expenditures
Non- material expenditures, recreation, tourism and restaurant services, are picking up the slack and growing at substantial rates from fairly small bases – and, because non-material goods make a perfect fit with online retail, ‘experiences’ should have an even brighter future
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