Gas Prices Could Interfere With Fourth Of July Spending

The Fourth of July is fast approaching, and businesses wanting to profit off it should prepare themselves.  The holiday looks to be another round of consumers weighing fun against current gas prices.

Maybe Independence Day isn’t huge for most businesses – if you’re not selling flags, hamburgers, or fireworks, there aren’t a lot of direct connections.  It’s traditionally been a day of sales and some amount of random spending, though, so the results of a National Retail Federation survey may have a wide effect.

The NRF states, "59.4 percent of consumers say increased gas prices will impact their spending for the holiday, up from 42.1 percent of consumers who said so last year."

Want to know how to tempt those shy individuals?  "This year, nearly two-thirds (61.2%) of consumers will light up their grills or attend a cookout or barbecue on the Fourth.  Additionally, consumers will attend a fireworks celebration (40.2%), go to a parade (10.5%) and travel or take a vacation (11.2%)."

Plan your advertising and specials accordingly.  For businesses, Christmas in July just isn’t going to happen, but hopefully you’ll be able to give yourself some financial reason to celebrate the Fourth.