When the customer is happy, the retailer is happy. So how is Australian consumer confidence faring?
Consumer confidence in Australia has declined for four straight quarters, with utility bills and job prospects key factors.
This is according to the latest consumer confidence survey report from Nielsen (2Q2014).
Consumer confidence declined four points from the first quarter's record low 89 points.
It marks the fourth such decrease and the country's lowest score since Nielsen commenced measuring consumer confidence in 2005.
The rising cost of utility bills is the biggest concern for Australians over the next six months and higher than any other nation globally.
Three in five Australians are concerned about their job prospects in the next 12 months.
Nielsen head of demand strategy Greg Dring said this sentiment is not being reflected in underlying consumption activity.
“Sentiment readings tend to reflect what people are feeling about the future rather than what they are doing right now,” he said.
“Over the past twelve months, consumption expenditure has increased at an average of 5.1 percent and retail sales growth, a subset of final consumption expenditure, has also
accelerated.”
Just one‐third of Australian respondents were optimistic about job prospects—the lowest level since 2009.
Scores for personal finances (48 per cent) and intentions to buy (37 per cent) in the next 12 months also declined two and four percentage points, respectively.
Close to half (48 per cent) of Australian respondents regarded the state of their personal finances to be ominous, up nine percentage points compared to the same quarter last year.