Shopper confidence at ‘lowest levels’ despite removal of COVID-19 restrictions

89% or nearly nine out of ten shoppers expect food prices to rise.

Shopper confidence plummeted in January to its lowest levels despite the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.

Data from IGD’s Shopper Confidence Index, from IGD ShopperVista revealed an average score for the month of -14, down from -9 in December – the lowest it has been at any point in IGD’s data.

Confidence dropped in the first week of January to -11, and by the end of the month it had dropped to -17 points.

89% or nearly nine out of ten shoppers expect food prices to rise, the highest level since September 2011.

Financial confidence, meanwhile, reached its lowest level since 2013, excluding the initial 2020 lockdown period, with 39% stating they expect to be worse off in Jan 2022 versus 31% in December 2021.

“The removal of COVID-19 restrictions this month did nothing to improve shopper confidence due to cost-of-living concerns, and there is still space for it to decline further given the full effect of rising prices is yet to be felt,” said Rhian Thomas, head of shopper insight at IGD ShopperVista.

“We continue to believe that rising food and energy bills will hit the lowest affluence groups hardest, with ‘heating vs. eating’ becoming a genuine concern for the lowest earners.

“From our data we’re seeing shoppers indicate they’re spending more than they want to and buying less as a result. Going forward, businesses should prepare for shoppers being more planned in their shopping – eating more at home and looking to spend less day-to-day to save money and spend on what matters to them,” she added.