By Business & Finance 
Confidence in household income sees an 8% lift as consumers make more informed decisions when it comes to spending.
Irish consumer confidence continues to show steady improvement according to the H2 2015 Deloitte Consumer Tracker. The most significant increase in confidence over the last six months is in household disposable income where there is an 8% lift to 27% in the numbers indicating that they feel more confident.
The numbers feeling less confident about household income have declined, from 42% in March 2015 to 29% in the latest figures. The findings indicate that despite a steady improvement, the recovery in spending continues to be uneven.
Consumers have also indicated that they intend to spend more over the coming months in utilities bills, health, transport, clothing and footwear holidays and housing. Just over one in five respondents indicated that they intend to spend more on going out, and restaurants and hotels over the coming months.
“It is welcome to see the general overall improvement in consumer confidence and consumer intentions to spend over Christmas and into the New Year,” David Hearn, head of Consumer Business at Deloitte, said. “However Ireland, like other countries, is finding that the recovery is uneven and spending will not necessarily return to the way it was before the recession. From a retailer’s perspective, the challenge will be to figure out which consumers have the ability to spend and understand their changing buying patterns and behaviours, and tailor their offering accordingly.”
In order to understand the changing buying patterns and behaviours, the research also examined online shopping behaviour. The findings show that Christmas is driving further increases in online purchasing.
With regards to mobile activity specifically, the findings demonstrate the impact that mobile devices are having on consumer behavior with 52% of respondents saying they check their bank balance on mobile devices while 41% made transfers. One third (32%) of respondents feel comfortable making low level purchases such as cinema tickets and taxis on their mobile devices, while for high level items such as electrical goods, flights or holidays, this figure drops to 23%.
“Consumers are far more informed that they were before the recession – the advent of online shopping, social media reviews and mobile technologies have changed buying patterns fundamentally,” Hearn commented. “Browsing online is no longer confined to the home. Widespread use of smartphones allows more consumers to research products and compare prices in-store creating opportunities for retailers who can take advantage of this trend. In 2016, we are likely to see more retailers increasing their investments in digital, mobile, analytics and the supply chains needed to support new customer buying patterns.”
