Rising gas prices impact consumers in several ways, including the amount of disposable income consumers have and their confidence in the market. In my latest Retail Rap column, I discuss how gas prices will affect spending and what we can expect moving forward.

To me, the biggest issue we’re facing is the price of gas. Rising gas prices can have a double-barreled impact on consumers: Fundamentally of course, the more money we have to put into our gas tanks, the less disposable income we have, but the bigger issue is how it affects consumer confidence — both lead to potentially quieter cash registers. It would be a real shame if the small-but-significant increase in consumer confidence that we have seen over the last few months–thanks to a somewhat better-than-expected holiday shopping season–gets stalled or even reversed by higher gas prices.

Check out the full article from my recurring column, Retail Rap, at Chain Store Age.