Year-end Holiday Survey 2010The season for reason |
Welcome to this our 13th Deloitte Annual Year End Holiday Survey. Nineteen countries are included in our 2010 survey. This year has certainly been challenging for retailers and consumers alike, not only in terms of the tough economic environment that provides the backdrop for this year’s holiday season spending outlook, but also in terms of the different and sometimes conflicting market messages that are filtered through to consumers almost on a daily basis. As has been the case in prior years, we have sampled the spending habits and the underlying moods of consumers across all 19 countries ahead of the 2010 year-end festive season in order to assess their frame of mind and intentions toward planned spending on gifts, food, out-of-home entertainment and leisure over the coming holiday season.
South Africans have in previous surveys shown themselves to be traditionally more optimistic than their European consumers. However, this year may be different. South African consumers have shown a marked downward shift and closer alignment with the strong negative consumer mindset being displayed by Europeans ahead of the holiday season. Ongoing concerns around job security and the uncertainties around the growth prospects of the economy are fueling consumer fears, indicating that a recessionary consumer mindset may finally have reached our shores. Further worrying is the fact that the high levels of disposal debt to income situation that most consumers find themselves in could result in a protracted recovery for retailers and will impact the planned holiday spend over this
season.
Year-end Holiday Survey 2010
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