If small business owners want to weather future economic downturns, they need to understand how their consumers are coping with more uncertainty

The news cycle is full of information that leaves consumers feeling not so optimistic about the future. Interest hikes are up, inflation continues to rise, and GDP fell 0.9% in the second quarter. To follow up on UpCity’s Preparing for Recession Survey for SMBs, the B2B service provider has announced the results of a follow-up survey that shares insights on how small business customers are preparing for a potential recession.

The Consumer Recession Concerns Survey gathers insight from 600 consumers throughout the United States on how they plan to change their spending habits.

Statistical highlights include:

• 84% of overall consumers are either somewhat worried or extremely worried about the possibility of an upcoming recession in 2022.
• However, consumers ages 35-44 are the most worried about a recession at 50%.
• 50% of consumers, regardless of household income noted that they’re going to prepare for a recession by switching to using less expensive brands.
• 28% of users plan to further adjust their spending habits by shopping for more sales and discounts. These specific plans varied more when examining consumer responses by employment status.
• 15% of consumers plan to refrain from making large, high-risk purchases soon.
• 19% of consumers overall stated that they’re most inclined to stay loyal to the brands that they’ve been using the longest during a recession.

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Heidi Sullivan, SVP of Product & Marketing at UpCity, says that because many people, just like businesses, are still recovering from the pandemic recession, it makes sense that we see similar trends to our survey on how business owners are preparing for the recession.

“While we like to remain optimistic, after a pandemic, supply-chain disaster, and inflation, we have to remain adaptable. It’s clear that curveballs are inevitable,” Sullivan said.

“What hasn’t changed is that in order for a company to survive in any economic landscape, it needs to understand its audience” Sullivan continued. “Our customers are speaking up and if your brand isn’t prepared to meet the demands of changing consumer behaviors, it might be time to meet with a business consultant to get ahead of the curve and survive the uncertainty ahead.”

Visit UpCity for more information about this survey and other topics relevant to small and medium B2B service providers, their leaders, and their employees.

UpCity is a resource that helps connect businesses to service providers they can trust. With more than 70,000 listed providers—from marketing agencies to accounting firms to HR consultants to IT specialists, and many more—2 million businesses (and counting) have visited UpCity to research and identify the best partner for their needs.

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