Gearing up for Specialities Season and Economic Lag
Anyone that owns, operates or works for a small business has probably noticed that over the last year or two small business performance is way ahead of economic news that makes it to the evening news or online. The business cycle seems to have really changed and by the time we see reports of economic conditions we have already dealt with them as small business participants.
There is almost no doubt that later July into the middle of August was significantly slower than earlier periods of the year. The numbers from July however show strong retail sales which may only prove the point that people were spending money on themselves and not necessarily their businesses. By the time mid August rolled around and people returned to work from summer vacations business sales began to pickup and that has continued into the later stages of the month. However the economic news that made the major outlets during that time lagged significantly failing to flag the slowdown until it was already over and failing to note the return to more normal patterns after it happened. Is the problem poor data or is it that the economy now cycles much faster than it did years ago? I think it really is fast cycling and buyer psychology. With some much financial news now available consumers adjust their expectations and behavior on the fly. Just take a look at the stock market and you will see some incredibly fast movements in behavior that have no real rationale explanations.
Taking a look back through our more recent articles, the Ice and Wine Gift Segment was one of the more popular articles written to date. The Grigio has already garnered enormous interest and there is no doubt that will continue. The most popular article still has been the discussion of why laundry caps are still tough to read. Apparently we struck a nerve with consumers tired of paying too much. Last but not least the discussion of checkpoint friendly computer bags has been forwarded more than any other article. As business travel picks up we expect to see business sales for checkpoint friendly bags soar.