With the coming of the pandemic Covid-19, the market witnessed a steady drop in consumer confidence, due to lockdown measures. But the consumer confidence has slowly hiked up by three points as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions began to loosen in the latter part of June. As lockdown restrictions are eased, there was a slow hike in the UK consumer confidence, according to a survey conducted.
The overall index rose by three points in the two week period to -27, as per GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Barometer. UK’s consumer confidence is gradually on the rise, as the country prepares for a return to pre-pandemic trading from 4 July, the re-opening day. According to the fourth Covid-19 ‘ flash’ report, the overall index score rose by three points during the period from 18-26 June to be -27, which was -36 the last time.
The index measuring people’s expectations for the general economic circumstances in the period rose by six points to -42, while the index measuring people’s expectations for their personal finances increased by one point to -3, in the next 12 months. That is, there any is an upswing in hope for the general economic situation up by six points, over the next year. Also, the major purchase index witnessed a rise of seven points to be -25. According to GfK survey, consumers are more anxious about their financial performance over the last 12 months. That measure dropped by six points.
There was a seven-point increase in the Major Purchase Index( MPI), reaching up to -25 in GfK’s measure of whether consumers feel the time is appropriate to make a major purchase such as furniture, electrical goods, or households. The MPI dropped by 50 points and sat at -52, in April. In the general economic situation, there was a decrease by one point in the confidence over the past 12 months, hence reflecting in one decrease in the report.
“Regardless of all critical warnings and alarms about the current state of the economy, the further increase in unemployment, ample job losses, and a probable second-wave of Covid-19, the consumers seem to be confident as the lockdown regulations loosen in parts of the UK”, said GfK client strategy director Joe Staton.
As the lockdown eases with restrictions being relaxed, it will be fascinating to see how the consumer appetite for spending money in a world of socially-distanced shopping and the seismic jump to online retailing, that is shopping – alongside worries of a fresh rise in COVID-19 cases as relaxations are implemented. The worst is yet to come, so the good news of current relaxations can take no time to become bad ones leading to the tumbling back of customer confidence.
