It’s been sunny, we had the positivity surrounding the World Cup and there was the opportunity surrounding end of term teacher’s cards and gifts, but it would seem that the dip in consumer confidence was echoed in the tills of some card retailers, while others made hay with the boost in tourism.
Consumer confidence fell by one point in July to -10, according to GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, says: “Despite the World Cup, Wimbledon and warm weather playing front and centre in the nation’s psyche this July, the Barometer again reveals a decline in consumer confidence. The Overall Index Score has now registered at zero or negative since February 2016. Concerns about our personal financial situation, and especially the general economic outlook, have contributed to this long slump.”
Joe continues: “There’s a heatwave in much of the UK but consumer confidence remains stubbornly sub-zero. And in this environment, any bad news such as a surprising uptick in inflation with the expectation of a corresponding increase in interest rates, or any adverse political event either at home or abroad, would likely have an exaggerated downward drag on consumer confidence.”
The nation may have been feeling good about the weather and football, but that didn’t necessarily lead to increased spending as Carl Dunne, owner of Cards & Gifts in Sheffield explains: “July was a very dead month for us. The hot weather made people stay in as they didn’t want to be out in the heat shopping. Also the scaremongering news reports about the heat didn’t help. Sheffield was a ghost town on Saturday when England played Sweden. I closed at 4pm, only because we had no one in and had only taken £96 up to that time.”
It was a thought echoed by Helen Colley, co-owner of Retas-winning Hallmark Widnes. “You physically can’t drive people into your store with your wow-factor displays if they are at home soaking up the rays or partying bbq-style celebrating the World Cup!”
Down on the coast at Folkestone however, it was a different story for Amy Symons of Retas-finalist Moda, where the football didn’t have too much negative impact, except on the Saturday when England played Sweden which was “probably our quietest Saturday afternoon ever.”
However, on the upside, Amy says “We have noticed an increase in the number and spends of tourists this July compared to other years, but I’m not sure if this is due to the extended hot weather or other factors. Visitors are always looking for small, unbreakable items to take home, especially anything with a British theme, so things like made in Britain jewellery and soaps have been doing particularly well since the holidays started.”
