"Customers were confused over SNAP benefits that remain in limbo amid the government shutdown, the teller explained. People were going through the checkout and abandoning cartloads of food when payments didn't go through, resulting in lost revenue for the store and lost productivity as workers had to put everything back, not to mention the sad fact that some SNAP recipients did not have alternate ways to purchase those items."
"Consumer spending plays an outsized role in the U.S. economy, accounting for roughly 70% of GDP versus less than 50% in countries like China, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. And transfer payments to consumers often translate to revenue for U.S. business, whether that's the 250,000 stores that accept SNAP payments or the hospital systems that rely on revenue from Medicaid and Medicare."
Self-service checkout systems failing to accept EBT payments left SNAP recipients unable to complete purchases, causing abandoned carts, lost store revenue, and extra labor to return items. SNAP and other transfer payments flow into retail and health systems, supporting thousands of stores and hospital revenue tied to Medicaid and Medicare. Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70% of U.S. GDP, making transfer programs economically consequential. The top 10% of earners now drive half of consumer spending while lower earners carry record credit-card debt of $1.33 trillion; 56% of households under $50,000 carry month-to-month balances. A prolonged shutdown will widen these divides.
Read at Fortune
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