More worry for retailers as consumer confidence found at its lowest

More worry for retailers as consumer confidence found at its lowest

	Published : Thu, 01 Dec 2005 12:05 By : Richard Owen Print this Story

LONDON: There is more bad news for retailers as the Christmas shopping season is just beginning. A survey has found that consumer confidence in Britain is at its 21/2-year low in November.

Consultancy firm GfK NOP, which conducted the survey, said the consumer sentiment remained at -8 in its measurement, the lowest since March 2003 (the index then fell to -10 when the Iraq war happened).

Though the measurement is not considered a good model to evaluate spending trends, analysts described the findings as an indication that spending is not likely to go up in the near future. They, however, point out that the survey's sub-index measuring Britons' expectations of their own personal finances rose to +8 in November from +7 in October while the measurement whether it is a good time to make a major purchase rose to +5 from +2 in October.

GfK NOP's divisional director Grant Montague said there is little festive cheer to be seen in the survey details.

The survey showed that perceptions of the development of personal finances over the last 12 months remained unchanged at -4, though perceptions of the same for the next 12 months improved one point to +8. Perceptions of the general economic situation in the country during the last one year have gone down to -29 from -26, while those for the next 12 months remained unchanged at -19.

The survey was sponsored by the European Commission and covered a sample of 2,066 individuals aged 16+.

Meanwhile, business information group FootFall came out with data showing shoppers coming to the shopping centres, retail parks and high streets had fallen 3.7 per cent in the week ended 27 November compared with the same week a year ago.

Many analysts feel these gloom stories may not move the Bank of England to effect another cut in the interest rates. Many even fear there could be an upward revision.

However, a member of the monetary policy committee of the central bank, David Walton told a newspaper that keeping a close eye on the strength of household spending over this Christmas period is going to be quite important.