Has our collective spending behaviour finally changed?

Last week the chief executive of a major supermarket chain (that has been producing very good results in recent years) went on record to say that there had been a sudden and dramatic curtailment in customer spending after Christmas. This warning from Sainsburys follows similar reports from Primark and John Lewis who also both identified significant changes in consumer behaviour.

Apparently we’re waiting until we get paid to see how much money we have before we go out spending. We’re typically putting fewer items in the trolly. We’re topping up our shopping more frequently while reducing on the bigger shopping outings. We already know (from CCCS figures) that actual average unsecured debt levels are in decline.

Of course these are early signs, but it may be that the reality of pay freezes, inflation, risks to employment, the high cost of credit, a lack of access to credit and the threat of higher mortgage costs has finally led us to collectively make a move towards living to our means in a more cautious fashion.

Bad news for retailers and manufacturers. Bad news for the economy as a whole during a time when growth is needed. But perhaps in the long-run good news for thousands of normal people. Added together these behavioural changes will ensure that fewer people find themselves in a future position whereby resort to a protected trust deed becomes necessary.