BRC: Consumer confidence falling ahead of the Budget

The BRC Consumer Sentiment Monitor is being made public for the first time today, and will be published monthly henceforth

Fieldwork conducted on 10 – 13 September 2024

According to BRC-Opinium data, consumer expectations over the next three months of their:

• Personal financial situation worsened to -6 in September, down from +1 in August.

• State of the economy worsened significantly to -21 in September, down from -8 in August.

• Personal spending on retail, improved slightly to -8 in September, up from -9 in August.

• Personal spending overall fell to +10 in September, down from +11 in August.

• Personal saving fell to -9 in September, down from -4 in August.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
“Retailers could face a turbulent few months as consumer confidence fell significantly in September. Negative publicity surrounding the state of the UK's finances appears to have damaged confidence in the economic outlook, particularly among older generations. Despite this, expectations for future retail spending, while negative, did not yet appear to have been adversely affected, with many consumers expecting to reduce the amount they save instead.

“The Budget is a key opportunity to inject some confidence back into the economy, boosting spending and helping to foster much needed investment by businesses. The broken business rates system is currently holding back investment in jobs and communities across the retail industry. By introducing a Retail Rates Corrector - a 20% adjustment to retail property rates bills – the Chancellor could help drive investment in local high streets and communities, creating jobs and boosting consumer confidence.”

Consumer expectations for the state of the economy over the next three months:

Consumer expectations for their personal financial situation over the next three months:

Consumer expectations of spending over the next three months by category:

Consumer NET expectations of spending over the next three months by category:

-ENDS-

The BRC sent this release to our "Monitors" and "High Street" media list. To check/update what media lists you are on, please contact us below.

The next BRC Consumer Sentiment Monitor's will be published:

• Thursday 31^st October (embargo copy sent on 30^th Oct)
• Thursday 28^th November (embargo copy sent on 27^th Nov)

Methodology:

Fieldwork conducted by Opinium for the BRC. Sample included 2,000 UK adults and results have been weighted and assigned a net score. Questions were:

• Over the next 3 months, do you expect your personal finances to get better or worse?
• Over the next 3 months, do you expect the state of the UK economy to get better or worse?
• What do you plan to do in relation to your spending over the next 3 months?
• Reflecting on your retail spend across different categories, overall do you expect to spend more or less on retail items over the next 3 months?
• What are your expectations for saving over the next 3 months?
• What are your expectations for spending on the following retail categories over the next three months compared to the previous 3 months?