According to the findings of Deloitte’s “Year-End Holiday Survey 2014 South African consumers will be more pragmatic spenders this year by buying food to enjoy at home instead of hitting the streets.
“The average proportion of the consumer budget that will be spent on food has jumped to 44 percent in 2014 compared to 36 percent last year, while spending on socialising drops to 13 percent from 23 percent in 2013,” Deloitte said in a statement. “Nevertheless, consumers will still allocate a significant portion of their holiday season budget to gifts with 43 percent of expenditure going towards presents in 2014, roughly similar to last year’s 42 percent.”
Rodger George, Deloitte African consumer business leader, said 66 percent of South African consumers surveyed indicated they would spend more on essential household expenses, such as electricity and groceries, this year.
“Consumers are showing signs of conservatism as general day-to-day living expenses continue to rise while consumers try to stretch their budgets as far as possible.”
Sapa reports South African spending trends appeared to mirror those in Europe, where consumers were also grappling with poor economic growth. Deloitte said food (40 percent) and gifts (39 percent) were expected to be the largest share of consumer spend in Europe, while travelling (12 percent) and socialising (nine percent) were secondary.
