According to Mastercard SpendingPulse data, retail sales in the United States climbed 3.8% from November 1 to December 24th, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Economic experts, such as Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, contend that the strong retail numbers, which beat forecasted estimates of 3.2% growth, indicates the overall strength of the US economy as a whole.
“Solid spending during this holiday season underscores the strength we observed from the consumer all year.” – Michelle Myer.
A few key categories, Jewelry sales (+4% YoY), Online Sales (+6.7% YoY), Apparel (2.7% YoY) and Tech/Electronics (3.2% YoY) all contributed to the overall robust economic growth. Strong consumer confidence and retail sales numbers throughout the year gave the Federal Reserve, led by Board Chairman Jerome Powell, the evidence it needed to cut interest rates by a full one percentage point over the final few months of 2024. Leading to optimism that rate cuts might lead to a return of US consumer investing in high-ticket items such as furniture, home appliances, and new vehicles and homes.
Interestingly, omitted from the figures are automotive purchases. According to the National Automotive Dealers Association, car sales rebounded from an April 2020 monthly record low of 8.48 million cars sold to an above average (US average 1978 -2024: 14.81m units sold) 16.65 million cars sold. A staggering 96% increase in 4 years!
While the car industry as a whole did perform well overall there were a few detractors. Electric Vehicle pioneer and stock market darling Tesla, experienced a staggering 70% decrease in net income ($2.3B) despite a modest 1.9% increase in net sales ($25.7B).
Wall Street experts and Main Street proponents have urged the Federal Reserve to continue their strategy of reducing interest rates by a minimum of a quarter point per session. However, on January 29th, 2025 the Fed made the decision to pause interest rate cuts. Chairman Jerome Powell cited strong economic performance in November and December led by consumer spending, a strong indicator of a healthy economy, coupled with a jobless-rate of 4.1%, as the need to cool a potentially overheated economy. Powell also intimated their main goal remains two-fold, both stimulate the economy while also taming high inflation. Which indicates further pauses in rate reduction are likely to occur.
Marketers and consumers alike can take comfort - there is a solution. President's Day on February 17th has become synonymous with high-ticket item sales as retailers from all industries look to unload excess holiday inventory and push major purchases to start the year on a positive footing.
President’s Day in the United States is the first big car sale event of the year and electric vehicles continue to increase their market share every quarter. In the third quarter of 2024, electric vehicles made up 8.9% of all car sales, the highest percentage ever. As electric vehicle manufacturers and their owners continue to be in the news cycle, what does the purchaser of an electric vehicle look like?
The audience profile of those who have bought electric vehicles in the last 12 months continues to lean slightly more male in the 35 to 54 years old age range who have children in their household. These purchasers are more likely to be college educated and have a household income of over $100,000. The price point of electric vehicles likely contributes to their audience having a higher income level, but the President’s Day sales opens up the possibilities of newer audiences taking the plunge into an electric vehicle.
To highlight that point, our data indicates that while there are large segments who are interested in electric vehicles, the market has yet to offer an enticing option to lead to purchase on a large scale. Of the people who are interested in eco-friendly vehicle websites, only 2.4% made an electric vehicle their most recent purchase. While this is still double the US average, there is a large interested audience that has not yet made the jump into purchasing electric that vehicle manufacturers have yet to reach.
How do marketers tip the scales and finally push through the EV blockade and continue to grab market share over traditional vehicle sales?
According to the TelmarHelixa Discover platform, those interested in Electric Vehicles—but have yet to make a purchase—are unsurprisingly drawn to Eco-Friendliness and Science & Tech. To know one's surprise, advertising and marketing messaging of Electric Vehicles has predominantly focus on those psychographic traits. For example, Tesla tends to focus on its technological advancements in self-driving or acceleration. While other's focus on how driving their Electric Vehicle will help you do your part to save the planet.
We suggest a new and fresh approach to Electric Vehicle messaging. Yes Eco-Friendly and Science and technology remains a key factor when considering a purchase, the interested Electric Vehicle consumer also sees Comedy (3.82x) and Travel (2.87x) has key areas of engagement for this segment. Consider using a less serious tone, while highlighting the ever increasing freedom the extended battery life affords as key drivers to attract the next generation of EV purchasers.
Attempting to court the next Electric Vehicle purchaser, while also not alienating your existing customer base is a delicate balance. Of all perspective Electric Vehicle purchasers their top Comedians are John Oliver, Joe Rogan, and Stephen Colbert. However that is where the similarities stop.
The Chevy audience is predominately comprised of 35-44 year old males who make between $40-70k a year. They have a strong passion for America and sports and more closely align with Joe Rogan.
Conversely, Toyota and Tesla's respective audiences are older, more likely to be female, consider themselves more political active and entrepreneurial. They also have a stronger affinity for John Oliver and Stephen Colbert.
Striking the correct comedic tone that both attracts new consumers while also resonating with existing customers is imperative to winning the Electric Vehicle war.
Whether you are in the market for a new Electric Vehicle or not, this President's Day offers the economy a lifeline in a ever challenging battle to regain pre-pandemic stability.
To learn more, please contact one of our experts to Book a Demo.
