Shoppers Work to Keep Labor Day Costs Low

Labor Day weekend, the three-day weekend honoring workers and marking the unofficial end of summer, is upon us (Sept. 2-4). And according to a survey by data and tech company Numerator, shoppers will be keeping a tight rein on holiday-related spending.

Findings of the survey include:

 * 42 percent of respondents expect rising prices to impact their Labor Day plans, remaining unchanged from the beginning of summer (Memorial Day weekend).

* More than three-quarters of celebrants will implement money-saving measures. A whopping 86 percent of consumers anticipate taking money-saving measures for the holiday, including buying items on sale (54 percent), preparing more budget-friendly meals (35 percent), using more coupons (32 percent), switching to store brands (23 percent), and visiting dollar or discount stores (20 percent).

* Three-fifths of consumers plan to grill, making it the top celebration intention for 2023. Grilling or not, nine in 10 consumers plan to purchase food and over half plan to purchase alcoholic beverages.

 * Beer is the preferred alcoholic beverage for celebrants. Summer 2023 saw suds sales grow by 11.7% and share by 1.6 points, when compared to summer 2022. Summer 2023 also saw changes in beer favorites. Brands that grew summer share include Miller (+2.1 points), Coors (+2.1 points) and Modelo (+1.2 points). Bud Light, which was ensnarled in a controversy related to a promotion involving a trans influencer, declined by 3.2 points.

Numerator’s 2023 Labor Day survey gathered responses from 518 respondents in early August. Summer alcohol insights were compiled using Numerator TruView tool, comparing the period June 1-July 31, 2023 to the same period a year earlier.

Click here for more from the survey.