Consumer confidence on the rise

Serena Russell — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:54:37 +0000

Consumers are becoming confident about the economic recovery and their finances are on the mend, according to a new survey of consumer retail spending and trends from Deloitte. More than half (55 percent) of consumers think the economy has started to recover from the recession, and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) indicate their household financial situation is the same or better compared with a year ago. In addition, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of survey respondents said they are planning to spend the same or more at retailers this year than they did in 2009. “Consumers appear to be picking up on the signals that point to brighter days ahead,” said Stacy Janiak, vice chairman and Deloitte’s retail leader in the United States. “The majority of those surveyed indicate their net worth is stabilizing, if not improving. Despite this show of confidence, consumers are mindful of events that could impact their financial situation. More than half of consumers (54 percent) say rising energy prices could cause them to hold back their spending in coming months; more than four out of 10 say higher taxes (45 percent) and lack of improvement in the job market (41 percent) could do the same. Roughly one out of four (27 percent) believe that the economy is recovering but may fall back into recession. While one-third (33 percent) are purchasing more online compared with a year ago, the Web has become an integral part of the in-store shopping experience as well, with three-quarters (75 percent) of consumers indicating that they look online for store, price or product information before or during their in-store shopping. More than half (56 percent) of respondents indicate they use social networking sites, and among them, more than four out of 10 (43 percent) interact with retailers through these channels. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of them do so to find out about promotions, almost half (48 percent) browse products and more than one-third (35 percent) review the recommendations found on those sites.

Serena Russell ~ Bay Area Real Estate Specialist » 2010 » September » 01

Consumer confidence on the rise