Goldman Sachs names the ASX retail shares to buy in the current environment

a young woman looks happily at her phone in one hand with a selection of shopping bags in her other hand.

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The retail sector has become a difficult place to invest this year due to concerns that rising interest rates and energy costs will put significant pressure on consumers.

The good news is that not all ASX retail shares are expected to underperform in the current environment.

In fact, the team at Goldman Sachs has just named two ASX retail shares that it believes are well-placed in this environment and could be great investment options today.

Which ASX retail shares should you buy now?

Goldman Sachs has picked out Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) and Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) as a couple of ASX retail shares to buy now. It commented:

We initiate on four discretionary retailers in the apparel, footwear and accessories space. Our top picks are Accent Group (AX1, Buy) and Universal Store Holdings (UNI, Buy) which we believe are best placed heading into a more challenging discretionary spending environment given a heavy sales skew towards a younger, Gen-Z consumer.

The broker highlights that younger consumers, especially those that still live at home, still have plenty of disposable income thanks to the increase in the minimum wage. This bodes well for these retail shares. It explained:

We believe the young Australian consumer, aged ~15-24 is uniquely well positioned. […] We estimate that the combined impact of a minimum wage uplift and limited inflationary/housing cost pressures has resulted in an additional ~A$570 to A$935 per person annual disposable income for those that work and live at home; at the midpoint this is an aggregated ~A$1bn in incremental spending power.

When coupled with this cohort’s prioritisation of ‘social’ spending on experiences and associated attire, we view UNI (with its core customer a Gen-Z consumer) and AX1 (~80-85% skew to younger age cohorts) as best positioned.

Goldman has initiated on Accent’s shares with a buy rating and $2.20 price target and on Universal Store’s shares with a buy rating and $7.20 price target.