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Statistics have indicated that high living costs and poor weather conditions have affected spending
Information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that products sold last month fell to the lowest level since February 2021, during which many parts of the UK were in lockdown.
Forecasts from the Bank of England show that the country is predicted to achieve zero growth until 2025, with fears of a recession still looming.
According to the ONS people are currently paying 16.9% more to buy 3.1% less than they did in February 2020, demonstrating the impact of the cost-of-living.
The performance of the retail industry can have a massive impact on print and sign producers as a large proportion of work like point-of-sale displays and bespoke packaging can be impacted by the budgets and ROI of retailers.
Spending habits of customers can also generally give an indication to general consumer habits and trends within consumer and business spending.
Commenting on the latest ONS figures, Lisa Hooker, leader of Industry for Consumer Markets at PwC, says: "Inflation may have eased in October, but consumers have yet to use their increased spending power to hit the shops, with retail sales volumes excluding petrol falling by 2.4% compared with last year, and even falling compared with an already disappointing September.”
Recently the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) released survey data that showed many print businesses are anticipating stable or loss of earnings in the last quarter of the year, despite the boost of seasonal work.
Hooker adds: “November normally provides better news for retailers with the arrival of Black Friday. However, with our research telling us that the cost-of-living crisis will mean £1.5bn less spent on the event, the omens for the sector appear finely balanced.
“We know from earlier in the year that in tough times consumers prioritise special events and family occasions, so retailers will be hoping that consumers are keeping their powder dry for a last-minute Christmas spending surge come December."
PwC’s annual Black Friday survey shows that interest in Black Friday has dropped from 61% in 2022 to 44% in 2023.
Many of those asked have cited cutting back or a lack of money as a reason for not spending money this Black Friday.
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