Fewer Americans are seeing in-store discounts

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

Why we asked about shopping observations: A year ago we did a dive into brick-and-mortar vs. online shopping patterns. It was time to trend.

What we found: While similarly low numbers (29%) report that prices in stores are lower compared to earlier this year and similarly high numbers (70%) say they think they can find cheaper prices online, some numbers in this battery did shift vs. last year at this time. Most notably, there was a 10-point drop to just 38% saying they see more discounts in stores these days.

They could be correct.

Retail Brew pointed out in a story about Amazon’s Prime Day that many retailers aren’t looking to unload goods that they stocked up on before tariff pricing took full effect. That could be applying more broadly across the market.

Tariffs certainly are on consumer’s minds too, although, the tariff landscape continues to shift and drift, making it hard for most to understand the impacts on the goods they purchase.

In other (perhaps related?) retail news, there was an 8-point drop in those saying they shop in physical malls often or sometimes vs. this time last year. Of those who don’t shop in malls, a majority say it’s been more than five years since they visited.

More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:

Our tipping behaviors haven’t changed

Gen Z are just as likely to open a bar tab as anyone else

QR Code menus are growing even less popular

The Ipsos Vibe Check: Here's how Americans feel about the government this week