February 26, 2026
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How Are Tariffs Changing Buying Behavior?
According to a recent survey, nearly 70% of shoppers say tariffs influenced their shopping decisions, including buying more American-made products.
The survey of U.S. adults was conducted from January 10 to 14 before the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on February 20 — a ruling that determined President Donald Trump’s broad tariff rates on U.S. trade partners enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, was illegal.
The president has vowed to continue his tariff-driven trade policy through other methods.
The survey of U.S. adults, from e-commerce marketing platform Omnisend, found 57.5% report making a conscious effort to buy more U.S.-made products over the past year, including 32% indicating they now stick to U.S.-based sellers. About a quarter (23.4%) actively avoid ordering from international sellers, although 21.1% will shop internationally if duties are shown upfront — and 36.1% still order internationally when prices are significantly lower.
The apparent shopper behavior shifts come despite Americans appearing to become more comfortable living with tariffs. Among survey respondents, 46% of Americans say they support tariffs on imported goods, up from 34% from a survey taken a year ago. More than half (54%) of Americans earning over $100,000 per year support tariffs, while 42% of those earning under $75,000 per year support them.
Still, 56% of overall respondents believe consumers ultimately bear the cost through higher prices.
“Consumers aren’t confused about tariffs — they know exactly where the cost shows up, and it’s on the receipt,” said Marty Bauer, e-commerce expert at Omnisend. “The survey showed that instead of simply shopping less to save money, people are shopping differently. They’re looking for fewer surprises, clearer pricing, and sellers they trust — and increasingly, that means choosing domestic options whenever they can.”
Tariffs Aren’t the Only Factor Driving Inflation, Price Hikes Facing Consumers
The survey comes as consumers continue to also feel the impact of price hikes in the earlier part of the decade, attributed in large part to the supply chain disruption tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and labor shortages.
U.S. annual inflation eased to 2.7% by the end of 2025, showing a gradual downward trend from as high as 7% in 2021 and 6.5% in 2022, though it remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal.
In January, overall inflation unexpectedly eased to 2.4% in January as a modest increase in food prices were offset by declines in energy costs.
Many retailers and vendors found ways to reduce or absorbed the costs of tariffs in 2025, but have been signaling on recent earnings calls that price increases are inevitable given tariff pressures.
On its fourth-quarter earnings call, Walmart said that inflation for general merchandise — or the prices it charges consumers for products like electronics and appliances — rose more than 3%, up from 1.7% between July and September. Walmart CFO John David Rainey told analysts, “We’ve worked hard to mitigate grocery inflation as tariff-related costs lifted prices across many categories.”
In a note on February 23, economists at Goldman Sachs stated that while the Supreme Court ruling created a potential $180 billion opportunity for U.S. companies to seek refunds for import taxes paid during 2025 and early 2026, prices are unlikely to meaningfully fall anytime soon. Goldman Sachs estimated that tariffs added a 0.7% increase in inflation over 10 months, and levies are expected to add another 0.1% in 2026.
“We would not expect companies to lower prices in response to tariff reductions nearly as quickly as they increased them in response to tariff increases,” analysts Alec Phillips, Elsie Peng, and David Mericle wrote.
BrainTrust
Tom Ryan
Managing Editor, RetailWire
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
How are tariffs altering consumer behavior?
How will the Supreme Court’s ruling affect U.S. retail prices in the near to medium-term?
Poll
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The full impact of tariffs has not yet been felt. Moreover, the pain that has been delivered so far has not fallen squarely on consumers as retailers have absorbed some of the higher costs And that’s probably just as well, as where there have been price increases due to tariffs, the consumer response has been to cut the number of things they buy – which is why volume growth is so suppressed. There is also an under-appreciated downstream impact on confidence. Tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty and that shows through in depleted consumer confidence. In turn, that has increased coping behaviors like trading down, moving to value channels, and so forth. The bottom line is that tariffs are not a friend to consumers nor to retailers.
Ultimately, retail prices drop when the product is a commodity, elastic, or due to competition. Otherwise, they have no reason for a retailer to adjust. Just an opportunity to increase margins.
Price elasticity has a lot to do with sales levels and consumer buying habits, Attributing changes in Retail Price due to rising costs, whether because of tariffs on the product, tariffs on an input to the product, margin protection or greed is going to be very very challenging. That said new (higher) prices tend to be sticky, so I would not expect a direct relationship between the rate of tariff abatement (if any) and lower retail selling price.
Tariffs have rewired our consumption habits. Increased price sensitivity has led us to compare prices, search for deals and wait for sales. We’re spending less and foregoing impulse purchases. Tariffs also made thrift, private labels and local goods more appealing. Overall, we’re getting savvier and more intentional with how and if we spend.
Imposing tariffs on products we cannot produce domestically (like coffee and bananas) makes no sense and affects customer behavior, not to mention outlandish beef prices. Affordability is number one in consumers’ minds.
I would sum up the reaction succinctly: frustration; there may well be sheep obediant people who now shun Chinese-made products, but there are also many that resent being told they shouldn’t buy what they want to (and many who formerly shunned them for whatever reason – it’s called “consumer choice” – but now find themselves undecided as to what to do)
As for the price effect, since the immediate effect is simply to rearrange the tariff burden, rather than eliminate it, I think we’ll see little impact (not to mention that no one can come up with a satistactory answer as to how the hundreds of billions of $$$ were paid, yet somehow didn’t seem to raise prices noticably.)
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The full impact of tariffs has not yet been felt. Moreover, the pain that has been delivered so far has not fallen squarely on consumers as retailers have absorbed some of the higher costs And that’s probably just as well, as where there have been price increases due to tariffs, the consumer response has been to cut the number of things they buy – which is why volume growth is so suppressed. There is also an under-appreciated downstream impact on confidence. Tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty and that shows through in depleted consumer confidence. In turn, that has increased coping behaviors like trading down, moving to value channels, and so forth. The bottom line is that tariffs are not a friend to consumers nor to retailers.
Ultimately, retail prices drop when the product is a commodity, elastic, or due to competition. Otherwise, they have no reason for a retailer to adjust. Just an opportunity to increase margins.
Price elasticity has a lot to do with sales levels and consumer buying habits, Attributing changes in Retail Price due to rising costs, whether because of tariffs on the product, tariffs on an input to the product, margin protection or greed is going to be very very challenging. That said new (higher) prices tend to be sticky, so I would not expect a direct relationship between the rate of tariff abatement (if any) and lower retail selling price.
Tariffs have rewired our consumption habits. Increased price sensitivity has led us to compare prices, search for deals and wait for sales. We’re spending less and foregoing impulse purchases. Tariffs also made thrift, private labels and local goods more appealing. Overall, we’re getting savvier and more intentional with how and if we spend.
Imposing tariffs on products we cannot produce domestically (like coffee and bananas) makes no sense and affects customer behavior, not to mention outlandish beef prices. Affordability is number one in consumers’ minds.
I would sum up the reaction succinctly: frustration; there may well be
sheepobediantpeople who now shun Chinese-made products, but there are also many that resent being told they shouldn’t buy what they want to (and many who formerly shunned them for whatever reason – it’s called “consumer choice” – but now find themselves undecided as to what to do)As for the price effect, since the immediate effect is simply to rearrange the tariff burden, rather than eliminate it, I think we’ll see little impact (not to mention that no one can come up with a satistactory answer as to how the hundreds of billions of $$$ were paid, yet somehow didn’t seem to raise prices noticably.)