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Financial Times seeking views from consumer-facing businesses

ended 05. July 2021

Pal at the FT is writing an article on Monday on high frequency data pointing to consumers being a bit more cautious in June. She's after views from businesses in various consumer sectors, e.g. restaurants, hospitality and retail. So:

  • Did you sense, or experience, a bit more caution among consumers last month? If so, why?
  • Did the delay to the removal of Covid restrictions on 21 June cause a consumer slump in any way?

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Craig BuntingVerified
Co-founder at BEAR
"Early June saw a marginal drop in spend as the rumoured delay in the lockdown roadmap began to impact consumer sentiment. People once again switched to amber alert and that meant less trips out, or fewer lattes and Americanos in our case. "In the latter stages of June, the dip in sales started to recover as it became increasingly likely that July would see an end to restrictions, mainly because the vaccine had seemingly broken the link between case rises and hospital admissions. The customers we serve now have much more of a spring in their step."
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Michelle CunninghamVerified
Co-founder at Tarelle Accessories
"As an online retailer of women’s fashion accessories, we certainly didn't experience any caution from consumers in June. In fact, it was one of biggest ever months since we began trading just over three years ago. For now at least, the majority of consumers seem confident to spend."
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Dr Jackie MulliganVerified
Founder at ShopAppy
"In June, the increased news coverage given to the Delta variant definitely impacted customer confidence, specifically among younger people still awaiting jabs, and older people who remain cautious after months of shielding. "Variants aside, June was still very much a mixed bag for consumer-facing businesses, with their sales driven by the type of product they provide and the extent to which they have adapted. "With the staycations sector booming at present, UK holiday destinations with a strong independent shop offering have been doing very well."
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Maddy Alexander-GroutVerified
CEO at My VIP Rewards
"We work with thousands of small independent businesses and the feedback we've received is that pushing back Freedom Day to July 19th had a definite impact on sales in June. People's confidence was hit once again and that translated very rapidly into reduced footfall on the high street. Each day the remaining Covid restrictions stay in place is an additional burden on businesses across the UK. "On Sunday, the new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, said 'the economic arguments for opening are well known'. If the vaccination programme is working, which clearly it is, I struggle to see why the final restrictions can't be lifted immediately to give a vital lifeline to for these struggling small businesses."