Cash-strapped consumers ‘nervous about spending’

Many consumers remain cautions over their spending and want to remain debt free during the current recession, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has noted.

Richard Dodd, spokesman for the BRC, explained that people are focusing their spending on essentials such as food as the economic climate remains uncertain in order to avoid the risk of problems including repossession and bankruptcy.

He added: “People are short of spare money and are nervous about spending what spare money they have got. Retailers selling big ticket items … are having a difficult time.”

This is supported by recent figures from the Office for National Statistics that revealed a 7.3 per cent fall in retail sales of household goods in May compared to the same month last year.

Research conducted by Datamonitor discovered that 43 per cent of people have given up their favourite grocery brands in recent months, with many making an effort to reduce their spending on convenience foods and cook meals from scratch.

By Suzi Richards