--- title: Americans Aren't Buying Stuff Anymore description: Spending on goods are down, while spending on experiences and activities is increasing, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2016-07-12T19:47:35.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T11:26:28.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - consumer spending - pubdesk - Shopping word_count: 279 canonical: https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** Money may earn a commission when you click on the products and services below. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how they appear. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/) about how we make money. ![Couple carrying shopping bags in clothing store](https://img.money.com/2016/07/gettyimages-521810947.jpg) While it may seem counterintuitive to report this on [Amazon Prime Day](https://money.com/amazon-prime-day-deals-2016-good/), a faux retail holiday developed by the U.S.'s largest e-retailer to move merchandise, it turns out Americans aren't buying quite as much stuff these days. [According to Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-dont-want-to-buy-things-anymore-2016-7), after aggregating data on consumers' credit and debit purchases, Bank of America Merrill Lynch found that people are spending much less on things and spending more on experiences. BI reports that economist Michelle Meyer wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday, > We show an assortment of categories in the Chart of the Month and observe the following themes: softness in housing-related items; continued shift away from department stores and teen & young adult clothing; strength in sporting goods; and an increase in spending on travel and restaurants. The data found that spending at brick-and-mortar retailers like Nordstrom and Macy's was down 4% from the previous year, while home goods saw a spending decrease of 3.6%, and electronics sales were down 3%. **Read Next: [12 Major Retailers Closing Stores Like Crazy](https://money.com/retail-stores-closing-locations/)** As for companies seeing gains in sales, sporting goods shops and the [travel industry](https://money.com/best-places-to-travel-2019/) saw gains, again emphasizing that people are spending less on clothes and accessories and more on vacations and activities. So, too, spending at restaurants and bars has increased: In fact, as Money reported, Americans now spend more at restaurants than at grocery stores. A separate report BI published in May found that Americans are spending the money they're saving on gas on things like [recreation and dining out.](http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-consumers-spending-oil-savings-2016-5) It also helps explain why scores of [retail chains](https://money.com/retail-stores-closing-locations/) and [malls](https://money.com/shopping-malls-closing/) have been closing down shop (along with the rise of e-retailers like Amazon and cautious spending after the Great Recession). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Economy", "item": "https://money.com/economy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Americans Aren't Buying Stuff Anymore" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/", "name": "Americans Aren't Buying Stuff Anymore", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-07-12T19:47:35.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:26:28.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Americans Aren't Buying Stuff Anymore", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/07/gettyimages-521810947.jpg", "width": 5121, "height": 3414, "caption": "buying-less-stuff" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-07-12T19:47:35.000Z", "description": "Spending on goods are down, while spending on experiences and activities is increasing, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.", "abstract": "Spending on goods are down, while spending on experiences and activities is increasing, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-not-buying-stuff/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:26:28.000Z", "wordCount": 279, "keywords": [ "consumer spending", "pubdesk", "Shopping" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy" ] } ] } ] } ```