Market Update: How an Uncertain Economy Can Be Good for Business – Full Analysis

Consumers are uneasy at the moment, cutting down on screen time and looking for community, real-life interactions, and physical books and collectibles, Kristen McLean, Senior Executive Director at the Circana Entertainment Knowledge Group, told retailers at the ComicsPRO Sneak Peek on February 5. But with uncertainty comes opportunity.

McLean now oversees all entertainment categories at Circana, including toys, so while she discussed sales trends of graphic novels and books in general (see “Graphic Novels Stay Strong in the Book Channel”) she shared some big-picture insights as well. “The general vibe of the market right now is one of just trying to keep up with the amount of rapid change that’s happening at every level—technologically, socially, politically—combined with a lot of personal uncertainty,” she said, “so the consumer is still coming to 2026, with, I would say, a conservative headspace, and there’s quite a lot of difference in different how different households are dealing with their uncertainty.” While that puts a damper on consumer sentiment, she said, it also opens up opportunities for retailers.

One important example: Analog is back. People are pulling away from phones and social media, McLean said, citing statistics that show that 53% of Americans want to cut back on phone time (up from 33% in 2023), and 36% say they have intentionally tried to reduce the time they spend looking at screens, a trend that is even more pronounced among adults under 30. “I think our stores in ComicsPRO have a lot to offer in this area,” McLean said, “from our game nights to our products to just knowing our customers, to our subscription program, to the passion that we have for fans, to the Buy Local movement.”

McLean highlighted current consumer sentiments that tie in with the direct market, including the desire for real-life experiences with connections to other people, escapism and light-hearted fun, creativity, fanship and connection with other fans, and collectability of favorite items such as trading cards, action figures, “whatever someone’s passionate about,” McLean said. At the same time, consumers are looking for affordability and balancing their wants with their needs, and the retail marketplace itself is constantly changing.

Spending on consumer packaged goods (excluding groceries) dropped in the last quarter of 2025, with a particularly sharp decline in December, but there were some exceptions: Spending on print books rose 1% year over year, toys went up 6%, and video games went up 7% thanks to the release of the Nintendo Switch. “These are categories that are seen as affordable, as high quality, high value, and they ring those bells around joy and experience and collectability,” McLean said. “That’s great for us going into 2026 because I don’t expect that to change.”

That spending is not evenly distributed across the economy, however, and McLean pointed out that while spending was up at the highest income levels (over $100,000 per year), it declined sharply among those with incomes under $50,000, with the middle sector getting “wobbly.” “The important takeaway here, in terms of your customers in 2026, is you have to have offerings at every price point,” McLean said, “and you have to really think about what does the right product look like at the right price for different parts of the market.” The sharpest drop in unit sales was among those in the 18-24 age range, while buyers over 35 with children in the household bought 1% more than last year and those without children bought 3% less, suggesting that parents are still buying for their children.

Meanwhile, the ecommerce landscape is shifting toward third-party marketplaces and TikTok. “Outside of the independent business market, a lot of the horse race that’s going on right now is happening between mass market and Tiktok Shop,” McLean said. “A lot of the retailers that are doing great on Tiktok Shop are not retailers or stores that we’ve ever heard of. It’s a lot of small, independent businesses that maybe have a couple of products, but they are blowing them out.” 

“That uncertainty that we talked about earlier is not just in our own head spaces or our consumers’ headspace,” she said. “The whole market is really in flux right now.”