UK Christmas Shoppers To Be Cautious With Money This Season

It seems that this Christmas shoppers in the UK are predicted to keep a tight grasp of their finances and not go overboard with spending, in light of the recent few years of economic unsteadiness, Warc reports. Shoppercentric surveyed over 1,000 individuals and found that 44% of UK consumers claimed they needed to stick to a strict budget this year.

It was also found that 29% of those questioned felt like the economic issues of the past had taught them to be careful with their money – moreover, they wanted to keep things that way.

Danielle Pinnington, the managing director at Shoppercentric, said that despite the fact that “the UK is in growth again” the data collected from the ‘WindowOn…Spending Habits’ survey shows that “60% of UK shoppers are still experiencing rising costs while their income remains static and a further 14% are dealing with a job loss or pay reduction.”

However, despite these stretches, it seems that UK shoppers won’t be depriving themselves but will be “using their carefully honed savviness to make their money stretch further.” By this it is meant that shoppers will put in research to find the best prices they can for the same products – for example, 65% plan to look on various channels (online or in-store) in order to find the best deals.

Over three-quarters of those questioned planned to make a purchase in-store, and a similar percentage planned to make a purchase online. Just under 20% planned to make a purchase on their tablets or smartphone.

One other fear for UK shoppers is that presents may not be delivered on time if they purchase online; this will lead to a rise in the popularity of click-and-collect services, and should encourage retailers to deck-out their stores in order to encourage impulse buying.