August Outlook: Cautious with Optimistic Signals

In this podcast we discuss the industry outlook for August - and heading into the critical pre-holiday season. The market continues to operate with a high degree of caution, particularly among brands and retailers who are deliberately keeping inventories low and minimizing risk of overstock. Despite this caution, industry signals are proving better than expected. Consumer spending in both the US and EU surpassed expectations in Q2, with the US up 3.2% year-on-year and Europe seeing its fastest growth since Q1 2025 [11:46]. Retail spending is steady as markets head into fall, and holiday outlooks remain "cautiously optimistic," with growth projections in the low single digits—better than no growth, though not spectacular [12:18]. The overall takeaway is that, while the industry remains careful and conservative in its approach, consumer resilience and strategic discipline at brands are enabling some to outperform market forecasts [11:37, 15:03].SEND US A MESSAGEVisit A Seat at The Table's website at https://seat.fm