Spooked shoppers are spending while they can

Consumers anticipate prices will rise later, a factor that’s expected to boost holiday sales.

- BY NILESH CHRISTOPHER

Shoppers in California plan to splurge this coming holiday season, but not because they are confident about the future. They are worried about inflation and figure it’s better to buy now than pay more later.

At least that’s the takeaway from a new report from accounting firm KPMG that shows that consumers on the West Coast are more concerned about price rise and tariffs than those in any other region in the country.

Nationally, shoppers intend to boost their holiday spending by 4.6% this year compared with last year, spending an average of $847 on shopping, according to the report.

"When you think about why consumers are planning on spending more, it’s not that they have more wallet to spare, but it’s actually an expectation that prices are increasing," Duleep Rodrigo, KPMG U.S. consumer and retail leader, said in an interview. "Eighty percent also of consumers are really being very conscious about inflation, and inflation that is impacted as a result of tariffs."