Inflation is pushing consumers to trade down and hunt for value

Consumers are still shopping, but they're looking for value as inflation stays stubbornly high. A Bank of America Institute report found this is especially the case for millennials. Trading down is prevalent in apparel spending, unlike for travel. As inflation remains elevated, spending habits have changed, especially for millennials. "Consumers are still spending, and they're adapting to inflation, but adapting is not the same thing as escaping it," Taylor Bowley, an economist at the Bank of America Institute, told Business Insider. "They're still finding ways to stretch their budgets by trading down where they have those choices." The Bank of America Institute created a spending tier composite using consumer spending data across four categories — apparel, dining, grocery, and travel — and the median incomes of shoppers at premium, standard, and value stores to examine changes in spending.

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