The American consumer, who is having low unemployment and high confidence, has “the best backdrop we’ve seen in decades” for the event shopping season, J.P. Morgan retail analyst Matthew Boss understood CNBC on Thursday.
“We think this holiday season could be the rout back-to-back that the consumer’s seen in five-plus years,” Boss implied on “Squawk on the Street.” He said retailers can win not only on the top line but also on the lines.
Happy holiday shoppers could spend more than $1.1 trillion this year, according to an annual prognosis by Deloitte. And it’s online shopping that is expected to get the biggest boost. A latest Adobe Analytics report predicted online spending growth is presumed to outpace that of storefront spending 14.8 percent to 2.7 percent.
In a retail production that has been adjusting to the divisions between brick-and-mortar and digital subject, e-commerce has been “driving a lot of intersection,” Boss said.
“I think you want to be positioned with value, convenience, alteration and pricing power,” he added.
The consumer conditions are good for global the craze and clothing brands such as Lululemon, Ralph Lauren, VF Corp. and PVH Corp., he estimated.
“You want companies that are in control of their own destinies from a cataloguing standpoint,” Boss said.
There has also been a “move near national brands” and department stores such as Kohl’s where a “trade-up powerful” exists,” he noted.
“We’re seeing trading up within stores, particularly at the division stores, to higher price, more full price,” he said. “We’re over discounting reduced in many cases. It’s been a key theme on a number of the unique, more recent conference calls.”
Yet, Boss said, pricing power is soothe in play as prices, wages and transportation costs continue to rise. This spawns an opportunity for off-price retailers, such as TJX Companies and Ross Stores, and discounters, such as Dollar Mongrel and Five Below, he said.
Furthermore, the retail industry continues to superficially disruption as consumers have “so many more choices today.” Boss suggested that more closures and bankruptcies are still to come and that off-price retailers side with to benefit.
“That also leads you back to those off-price retailers, which I’ll square include Ollie’s in there,” he said. “It also points you back to the discounters.”
— Reuters contributed to this shot.
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