2024-07-16 03:55:40
The exactness is here and continues to crush households, who are cutting from everywhere to be able to meet the cost of living, according to the IELKA (Consumer Goods Retail Research Institute) survey.
According to the data, inflationary pressures have affected consumer shopping and holiday habits. Consumers are even cutting back on food purchases based on the cost of the product.
55% (vs. 54% in 2023) say they have cut back on food and grocery shopping overall.
Furthermore, only 1 in 2 will take a holiday in summer 2024 due to increased costs in tickets and accommodation and those who do, say it will be more limited and with reduced costs.
They cut from everywhere
In particular, according to the IELKA survey, there have been significant changes recently in consumer habits in various areas of behavior, which are largely attributed to product and service price increases.
First of all, there is a clear tendency of consumers to save money for the purchase of basic goods and services and secondarily for money management. It seems that the pressure to reduce spending on basic services and less on basic goods is greater.
Specifically:
• 71% (against 75% in 2023) of the public declare that they have canceled entertainment expenses such as catering, vacations, travel, etc.
• 55% (vs. 54% in 2023) say they have cut back on food and grocery shopping overall.
• 49% (vs. 48% in 2023) of the public say they have postponed maintenance and repair work, e.g. at home or in the car.
• 42% (versus 49% in 2024) state that they have changed product brands.
• 27% state that they have used money from their savings in order to cover their purchases.
• 27% (against 32% in 2024) have postponed paying bills or stopped paying their obligations.
• 16% (versus 17% in 2024) state that they have increased their working time or found a second job in order to increase their income.
Just 3% of the public say they have taken no action at all to address inflationary pressures.
Cost is the main criterion
How intense the shift of the buying public is to saving money is reflected in the graph below as it records over time the factors that influence consumers in the last 4 years in relation to the choice of food.
Money expenditure remains the main criterion (57%), while quality is the main criterion for 27% of consumers.
Half won’t go on vacation
Based on the IELKA survey, which took place during the week of June 23-29, 2024, a cutter also enters the holidays:
1 in 2 consumers (55%) say they will not take a vacation in 2024
1 in 3 (32%) declares that they will take vacations, but more limited ones
6 out of 10 consumers say their spending this year will be lower than last year
4 out of 10 that they will be reduced by more than 50%.
When asked why they made this decision, they cite the reduced disposable income due to price increases, but mainly the increased costs of tickets (50%) and accommodation (48%).