Retail sales experienced a bigger than expected drop in July after consumers pulled back on spending. Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Refinitiv, joined Cheddar to talk about the disappointing report and attributed the numbers to the COVID-19 delta variant. Martis noted some optimism for the near future with retailers like Home Depot, which outperformed and topped sales estimates. "They gave us a glimpse of what we can expect for the holiday season," she said. "They said that they posted a few amounts of Halloween items on their website, and those sold out right away." Martis added that she expects consumers to continue to spend for back-to-school and the holidays.