Anthony is a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and serves as Vice Chair and Deloitte US Consumer Industry leader. Previously, he led our Advisory Consumer industry and Finance Transformation practices and was a member of Deloitte’s cross-business Finance Transformation leadership team. With nearly 30 years providing services to multinational clients in the consumer products, transportation, hospitality, retail and distribution sectors, he focuses on assisting clients with transformational initiatives involving the development and/or evaluation of finance operations and programs designed to improve financial integrity, compliance and operational effectiveness and efficiency. Anthony also serves as a lead business partner and advisory partner for a select group of strategic global consumer clients.
He’s a thought leader and has co-authored several pieces on consumer trends and marketplace shifts, as well as, the evolving role of the corporate controller. Across Deloitte, he is known for teaming & inclusiveness, driving collaboration in industry transformation efforts, and leading Finance Transformation integrated market offerings.
Steve is the managing director of Deloitte's Consumer Industry Center, Deloitte Services LP. He leads a team that conducts research to uncover new ways of thinking, working, and leading within the consumer industry through data and evidence driven analysis.
With more than 20 years of experience within consulting and high tech, Steve is especially interested in the intersection of technology, consumers, and business. He is focused on how industry leaders can deliver better results and the strategies organizations use to adapt to accelerating change.
Key insights about US consumers from Deloitte’s ConsumerSignals
Higher prices are likely still key in plateauing financial sentiment and spending intentions.
The percentage of US respondents concerned about rising prices remained at 76% in February. This level of price concern is comparable to June 2022, when inflation peaked at 9.1% (figure 1).
Deloitte’s financial well-being index has plateaued over the past year, with February’s 98.4 remaining relatively unchanged from 99.6 a year ago (figure 2). The index has generally moved inversely with inflation over the past four years (figure 2). Persisting inflation above the Fed’s 2% target likely continues to weigh on financial sentiment.
Peak inflation levels in June 2022 also coincided with a long-term decline in consumer spending intentions. Discretionary spending intentions are still yet to recover (figure 3).
At the category level, spending intentions suggest consumers continue to reshape their budgets to accommodate rising costs. Spending intentions in non-discretionary categories like housing, groceries, and transportation are higher or even, relative to 2021, while categories like clothing, personal care, and household goods remain at two-year lows. Strong spending intentions in the leisure-travel category remain an outlier (figure 4).
Notes: In figure
1, Deloitte’s financial well-being index* is measured across six dimensions of financial health: (1) confidence
in the ability to meet current financial obligations; (2) comfort with level of savings; (3) income relative
to spending; (4) delays in making large purchases; (5) assessment of current personal financial situation
compared to prior year; and (6) expectations of personal financial situation for the year ahead. Higher
index values represent stronger financial well-being. In figure 4, total spending intentions include housing
(including utilities and maintenance), transportation, groceries, health care, clothing, household goods,
personal care, education, internet and data, recreation and entertainment, leisure travel, restaurants,
electronics, and home furnishings. Non-discretionary categories include housing, transportation, groceries,
and health care.
Sources: Deloitte ConsumerSignals; US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Deloitte Insights | www2.deloitte.com/insights
Sources: US Department of Commerce, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Wall Street Journal (all sourced through Haver
Analytics); Deloitte Services LP analysis.
Anthony is a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and serves as Vice Chair and Deloitte US Consumer Industry leader. Previously, he led our Advisory Consumer industry and Finance Transformation practices and was a member of Deloitte’s cross-business Finance Transformation leadership team. With nearly 30 years providing services to multinational clients in the consumer products, transportation, hospitality, retail and distribution sectors, he focuses on assisting clients with transformational initiatives involving the development and/or evaluation of finance operations and programs designed to improve financial integrity, compliance and operational effectiveness and efficiency. Anthony also serves as a lead business partner and advisory partner for a select group of strategic global consumer clients.
He’s a thought leader and has co-authored several pieces on consumer trends and marketplace shifts, as well as, the evolving role of the corporate controller. Across Deloitte, he is known for teaming & inclusiveness, driving collaboration in industry transformation efforts, and leading Finance Transformation integrated market offerings.
Steve is the managing director of Deloitte's Consumer Industry Center, Deloitte Services LP. He leads a team that conducts research to uncover new ways of thinking, working, and leading within the consumer industry through data and evidence driven analysis.
With more than 20 years of experience within consulting and high tech, Steve is especially interested in the intersection of technology, consumers, and business. He is focused on how industry leaders can deliver better results and the strategies organizations use to adapt to accelerating change.