A merry Christmas for UK consumers highlights new consumer trends

UK retail sales are down on those seen towards the end of last year as of January 2006. Always a slow month for sales, January has traditionally been a tough time for retailers, and last year saw sales in January drop in comparison to the previous month by almost 2% - a massive drop. This January the figure is more like 1.5% but it is still a significant figure. Obviously the comparison between January and the previous month means that Christmas sales are the major influence of figures such as these but the overall trend points to a slowing down of retail sales growth. Factors included within these trends include massive sales gains for non-food stores and particularly clothing goods stores. It seems that high street shopping is in good shape! All figures sourced from UK government statistics (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=256 ).

So Christmas shopping has once again dominated the UK sales statistics at the turn of the year and we are allowed the opportunity to see elements of this year's shopping methodology being applied for the first time.

Traditionally thought of as only for the serious investor financial solution advice is being sought by the more savvy high street shopper. The increasing usage of online sites for big name financial advisors like the Financial Times (http://www.www.ft.com ) and the burgeoning presence of newer, increasingly respected, players like Motley Fool (http://www.www.fool.com ) has resulted in commercially aware shopping patterns.

For example in the figures released by the UK Government, spending was high in the months leading up to Christmas, as shoppers take advantage of advance buying and credit payment schemes to purchase gifts earlier than previously. This particular example has long been considered important but has often proved to be beyond the range of the consumers yearly budgeting - the knowledge is there but not the budget. Personal short term loans are now being used to take advantage of lower, pre-December prices for such goods, proving to be cheaper in the long run than avoiding cash borrowing altogether - the traditional advice.

As a result of this financial-savvy new consumer the personal loan market has seen great gains in recent years, and the proliferation of financial solutions of all kinds has resulted in a wealth of choice. In fact choosing might be the only drawback to this development in personal finance. Indeed, a sub genre of financial solutions for the individual consumer has generated personal loan finder services such as Moneynet (http://www.moneynet.co.uk/loans/index.shtml ) to help the consumer in enabling their finances and, come next Christmas, find the right gift at the right price!

Disclaimer

All information contained in this article is for general information purpose only and should not be construed as advice under the financial Services act 1986. You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.

UK government statistics
UK government statistics