The last time the Census Bureau gave its monthly report on retail sales in this country was two months ago. Those figures were for August.

We don’t know when we’ll get those figures for September and October, as the Bureau works through the data release backlog caused by the government shutdown.

But in the meantime, we’ll see quarterly financial results from a bunch of big retailers this week, starting with Home Depot tomorrow.. Lowe’s, Target and Walmart will follow. 

Big retail companies will tell investors how much money they brought in between August and October. But they’ll also likely talk about how many things they sold. And that’s what Gaurav Chhabra, managing director at AlixPartners, will be paying attention to. 

“When a consumer walks in and buys fewer things at a higher price, that could result in a higher revenue performance by retailers,” he said.

Fine for those big box retailers, but if consumers are buying less stuff overall, that might not be great news for the economy. 

“What it’ll tell us is how consumers may or may not be tightening their wallets in the short and medium term,” Chhabra said.

And Jessica Ramirez, managing director of The Consumer Collective, said a lot of shoppers, especially on the lower end of the income spectrum, are feeling pinched. 

“Food is very expensive, rent is expensive, utilities are expensive, yet those are the priorities, and so their discretionary spend is quite limited,” she said.

Just in time for the holidays — the most discretionary time of the year. Ramirez’s firm has been surveying consumers who make less than $75,000 a year, and most of them are in bargain hunting mode.

“They’ve already either started shopping for holiday or will be shopping ahead of Thanksgiving,” Ramirez said.

Shopping early to find the best deals. That shopping might rob retailers of some of their usual traffic in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

But Rick Miller, a partner at the retail consulting firm Big Chalk Analytics, said his data about consumers show something a little bit different. 

“What we're seeing is actually relatively robust spending intent for the holidays,” Miller said. 

His firm also surveyed consumers earlier this month. Most said their household incomes have actually risen, and they’ve improved their savings a bit this year. Even those on the lower end of that K-shaped economy we keep talking about.

“Even though this is still a consumer segment that is under a lot of pressure, very slowly, very generally, things have gotten a little bit better for them over the course of this year,” Miller said.

Which could make for a better holiday season for families and big retailers.