This Week in Retail: March Madness and inflation expectations

March Madness continues this week, and Kroger is getting in the spirit with its “Elite Ate” Snack Bracket, pitting customers’ favorite game time snacks against each other. Snack deals aside, the basketball tournament could be a boon to retail sales, as two Shopify sellers told Retail Brew earlier this month.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In data: The latest survey of consumer expectations from the University of Michigan is coming out this Friday. Sentiment dropped for the second consecutive month in February, falling 10% from the month before. Consumers were feeling less confident about both their personal finances and the short-run outlook for the economy, though the results were divided along partisan lines, with sentiment falling for Democrats and Independents but holding steady for Republicans.

In webinars: The National Retail Federation is hosting a webinar on what challenges may face small and medium-sized businesses trying to manage their supply chain through global trade disruptions and economic uncertainty. The webinar will feature insights from supply chain experts who have cooked up strategies to “safeguard your supply chains against unpredictable changes.”

In research: Relatedly, logistics firm Fictiv is releasing its annual 2025 State of Manufacturing & Supply Chain Report, which is based on a survey of 254 senior manufacturing and supply chain leaders. For a taste of what will be in the report, here are two key findings: 96% of respondents said they are concerned about the impact of trade policies, and 77% lack resources to manage their supply chain effectively.