Today's Journal reported that, following a dismal holiday season, some spring 2009 apparel is discounted as soon as it is arriving in stores. The findings were not surprising to Erin Armendinger, managing director of the Wharton School's Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative.

"Now that you've given people 70%, 80%, 90% off on goods, people start to think, 'Well what was it that I was paying full price for?' " Ms. Armendinger says. Consumers are currently re-assessing their "value proposition," which is business lingo for the trade-off between the money spent and the goods the consumer gets in return.

"Companies really need to look at what they were offering their consumers before and make sure that that value proposition was right," she says. Historically, in tough times, streamlined production processes emerge, Ms. Armedinger said, adding that when flush times return, companies should be careful not to overestimate the consumer's desire to spend more for too-subtle design changes.

Over time, consumer perceptions of value will bounce back, she believes. Retailers have already cut orders for this year, so inventories leading into the spring and summer will be leaner, forcing the consumer to buy or risk missing out. The market will set the price again, but it's too early to tell if prices, especially in luxury goods, which were hurt the most last year, will inch back to previous levels, according to Ms. Armedinger.

"Times like this, although they are not good in any way, shape or form, they re-set us all," she says. "Historically, great companies have come out of times like this. There are opportunities here."