Good value still attracts consumer spending
Thu, 05 Nov 2009
Customers are still prepared to part with their hard-earned income, but they may need greater persuasion from retailers, it has been suggested.
According to Andy Garbutt, retail and leisure director at professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, consumers have become more frugal during the recession and will only spend when they are sure there are clear benefits to doing so.
He was commenting after the professional services firm reported that the majority of people who have traded down during the downturn intend to continue buying cheaper products when the recovery comes.
Mr Garbutt stated that consumers are now more astute than ever when it comes to identifying purchase benefits.
As a result, they have a clear idea in their mind of how much they are prepared to pay for particular products and services, he claimed.
"The challenge for all companies is to understand how this dynamic is working in their own sector, so that they can start competing with the low cost operators on value, not price," he stated.
Earlier this week, Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium reported that consumer confidence has reached its highest point in 18 months in the UK – an index score of 75, ten points higher than the all-time low witnessed in April 2009.
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