Although it hasnt officially entered June, the 618 promotional ads on the sky may have upset many Chinese consumers.In the United States, although retailers have never had the habit of participating in the 618, the traditional summer promotional season has indeed come to an end.

There are signs that this years summer hike, in the context of the American peoples consumption degradation, appears to be crazy.

According to local media reports, this Mondays death anniversary holiday, if U.S. consumers search for promotional information in online or offline stores, it may be laughable. because after entering the summer, U.S. major retailers have increased their discounts to attract buyers tired of high inflation to reopen their wallets.

Chain stores such as Tagit and Walmart have launched price cuts, some permanent and some temporary, aimed at relieving customers. The price cuts are mainly foodstuffs, which were also initiated when the U.S. inflation first showed signs of mitigation. Of course, the overall price cuts are still far from sufficient for consumers who are still struggling to pay for basic life needs as well as rental and car insurance expenses.

Neil Saunders, CEO of GlobalData, consulting and data analytics, said: “Retailers realize that it is difficult to retain existing customers unless they take some measures in terms of pricing.

Saunders adds that while discounts are a common tool in the retail industry, the positive price cuts announced by some retailers covering thousands of commodities still represent a “significant shift” in recent strategies, noting that most companies have been talking about price increases over the past two or three years, marking the first large-scale “price war” since inflation began.

Which U.S. retailers are operating?

追求省錢的高收入購物者幫助沃爾瑪在最近幾個季度保持了強勁的銷售業(yè)績。但本月早些時候，這家全美最大的零售商將價格回調（可持續(xù)數月的臨時折扣）的范圍擴大到了近 7000 種雜貨商品，增幅達 45%。其中：一罐 28 盎司的 Bush's 烤豆醬罐頭目前已從 2.48 美元降至 2.22 美元，一箱（24 罐）12 盎司健怡可樂的價格從 14.28 美元降至 12.78 美元。

The company’s executives said the retail giant, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, found that more and more Americans chose to eat at home rather than go out to eat.Walmart believes that discounts will help their business grow for the rest of the year.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told analysts earlier this month: “We will lead in price while managing profitability.”

Tagit also declined, last week cutting prices for 1,500 items and announcing plans to cut prices for another 3,500 items this summer. This initiative is mainly for food, beverages and household supplies. For example, the Clorox Lavender Wipes, previously sold for $5.79, is now priced on the shelves for $4.99; the Huggies Baby Wipes, previously priced for $1.19, is now priced for 99 cents.

Low-cost supermarket chain Aldi also said earlier this month that as part of its promotion, the company will cut prices on 250 items, including those people most often buy on barbecues and picnics, and the promotion will continue until American Labor Day (the first Monday in September).

McDonald’s plans to launch a limited $5 “poor” package in the U.S. next month in response to slowing sales and customer dissatisfaction with high prices.

Arko, a large company that operates convenience stores in rural and small towns in the United States, said Arko’s Chairman, President and CEO Arie Kotler is launching the biggest offer in about 20 years for members and other customers of its free membership program. For example, members of Arko’s free loyalty program who buy two boxes of 12 cans of sandwich drinks will receive a free pizza. The promotion starts on May 15 and ends in September.

Kotler said that after observing the aggregate effects of high oil prices and other areas of inflation that have led customers to reduce spending compared to a year ago, they are focusing on the price of basic commodities that people use to feed their households.

Reducing consumption

It is worth noting that behind the large-scale summer promotions, the current state of decline in U.S. consumption is largely reflected.

The latest quarterly earnings report by Walmart, Messi and Lawrence shows that consumers have not stopped consuming, but many business executives, including McDonald’s, Starbucks and Home Buildings, have noticed that people are becoming more price-focused and more demanding.

The latest report released at the U.S. Commercial Research Agency’s Commercial Assembly at the end of the month showed that the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index fell for the third consecutive month in April as Americans continued to worry about their short-term financial outlook.

As shoppers focus more on special-priced goods, especially online, retailers are trying to get customers back to their stores. The comparable sales announced by Tagit this month declined for the fourth quarter in a row, comparable sales reflecting the sales of stores or digital channels operating for at least 12 months.

In fact, according to Adobe Analytics, online sales of the cheapest goods increased from April 2019 to April this year in many categories, including clothing, foodstuffs, personal care and household appliances.

For example, Adobe said that the market share of the cheapest food groceries increased from 38% in April 2019 to 48% in the previous month, while the share of the most expensive food groceries fell from 22% to 9% in the same period.

Many retailers say their goal is to provide some relief to shoppers.At the same time, the new discounts have dropped prices for some goods to levels prior to the 2019 epidemic.

For retailers, of course, there is also a cost behind a price reduction promotion. Saunders at GlobalData says he thinks retailers are compensating for the loss caused by a variety of methods – sacrificing profits, turning to suppliers and sellers, or reducing spending.

Meanwhile, Saunders does not think retailers would choose to raise the price of other commodities to fill their lower prices, as doing so would cause customer dissatisfaction.

Tagit has currently refused to disclose details of the impact of the price reduction promotion on its performance, but said its summer price promotion has been included in the companys expected profit range, which is lower than analysts expected.