BRC CONSUMER SENTIMENT MONITOR – December 2024
Fieldwork conducted on 10 – 13 December 2024
According to BRC-Opinium data, consumer
expectations over the next three
months of their:
-
Personal financial situation remained at -3 in
December, the same as in November.
-
State of the economy worsened to -27
in December, down from -19
in November.
-
Personal spending on retail fell to
-3 in December, down from +3
in November.
-
Personal spending overall dropped to
+11 in December, down from
+17 in November.
-
Personal saving increased to
-5 in December, up from -9
in November.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail
Consortium, said:
“Public confidence in the state of the economy took a nosedive,
falling 8pts to -27. This created a widening gap between
expectations of the economy and of people's own finances, which
remained unchanged. Perceptions were heavily skewed by age, with
18 to 35 year olds considerably more upbeat than older
generations on both questions. The public's spending intentions –
both in retail and beyond – dropped 6pts, with expectations of
spending in nearly every retail category falling. If these
expectations are realised, retailers could find themselves facing
a New Year spending squeeze just as they unveil their January
sales.
“The weak spending intentions could pave the way for a
challenging year for retailers, who face being buffeted by low
consumer demand and £7bn of new costs from the Budget set to hit
the industry in 2025. With sales growth unable to keep pace,
retailers will have no choice but to raise prices or cut costs –
closing stores and freezing recruitment. To mitigate the impact
this will have on growth, Government must ensure that its
proposed business rates reform does not result in any shops
paying higher rates than they already do.”
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:
-ENDS-
The BRC sent this release to our "Monitors", "General Retail" and
"High Street" media list. To check/update what media lists you
are on, please contact us below.
All monitor dates for next year can be found here
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?
