The Brexit consumer has been saved
Article
The Brexit consumer
The Deloitte Consumer Review
In this edition of The Deloitte Consumer Review, we focus on how the EU referendum and the ongoing Brexit negotiations are impacting consumers’ confidence, spending and behaviour. We ask what this means for consumer-facing businesses.
Conveying the consumer voice around Brexit
Brexit continues to dominate the headlines, but how much of a concern is it for consumers? Against a backdrop of a depreciation in the pound, a rise in inflation and low wage growth, are consumers beginning to feel the pinch and do they attribute this to Brexit?
In an attempt to convey the consumer's voice, we have undertaken research to provide some clarity on how consumers view the impact of the referendum, what they feel their prospects are post-Brexit and the key challenges and opportunities facing consumer businesses.
Key findings from the report:
- Brexit ranks sixth on the list of potential areas of concern for the UK consumer, suggesting that consumers have shaken off any negative effect associated with the referendum result.
- The nation has differing views when it comes to how confident they feel following the vote to leave the EU. Remain voters have seen negative
change across all measures of consumer confidence; whereas Leave voters have seen positive change across four measures. - Consumers are presenting a mixed picture about the change in their financial situation over the last 12 months, with 43
per cent of respondents claiming it had stayed about the same, 36per cent stating it had got worse and 18per cent stating that it had got better. - Consumers’ views on their personal finances are polarised between Leave and Remain voters, with 65
per cent of Remain voters believing their personal finances will be negatively impacted by Brexit and 63per cent of Leave voters anticipating either no or positive change. - A significant minority of consumers expect to actively change their spending habits as a result of the Brexit vote. At least 30
per cent expect to reduce their spending across all categories. - There is a greater
consensus over the impact of Brexit on the price of goods and services, with a third of respondents expecting price rises across all categories.
What sector specific challenges will companies face as a result of Brexit?
To Do list
A ’wait and see’ approach to Brexit is no longer a viable option - some actions businesses need to take could take 12 months or more to implement. | |
Look at various scenarios that might play out and understand the business exposure against these scenarios. | |
Put in place contingency plans which can be implemented when the likely outcomes become clearer. | |
Assess the business model against potential Brexit impacts by planning for the scenario of maximum change. |
Previous editions
Customer loyalty: A
Consumer data under attack: The growing threat of
Made-to-order: The rise of mass personalisation - July 2015
The growing power of consumers - July 2014
Consumer Review: Digital Predictions annual
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The Deloitte Consumer Tracker Q4 2023
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