Asda chief executive Andy Bond predicts that the credit crunch will create a sea-change in consumer behaviour:
“The credit crunch is now firmly entrenched in the psyche of the consumer, who has become ground down by the gloomy headlines on global financial turmoil and mounting job losses. Those who are still employed have tightened their belts for fear of what is to come, ushering in what is being seen as a new “age of austerity.”
Asda chief executive Andy Bond is not alone in predicting a sea-change in consumer behaviour as a result of the credit crunch – a change that will shape the spending habits of a generation in the same way that the post-war austerity shaped the spending habits of those who went through rationing in the 1940s and 1950s.
There is already evidence that people are getting back to basics. According to research firm Mintel, there has been a huge surge in the number of people who have turned away from expensive ready meals and are now “cooking from scratch”. According to Mintel’s figures, the numbers creating a meal from basic ingredients has doubled from 24 per cent five years ago to 41 per cent.
Products such as bottled water have been hit with a dramatic fall in sales as shoppers cut back and there has also been a significant increase in sales of frozen foods. Moreover, according to Asda’s Bond, we’re buying in smaller quantities and becoming far less fussy about sellby dates.”
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