ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT


ECONOMIIC SNAPSHOT IC SNAPSHOT VAL VA B TA HETA says: “BHET home


im pr o vem en t and garden sector director Paul Grinsell TA has


ys: “BHETA recently entered into


a great joint enterprise with leading research company GFK to produce the BHETA GFK Quarterly POS Index, which is an infographic of the latest EPOS data – by category As part of this relationship, Kelly Whitwick, GFK’s UK r etail lead was speaking at the most recent BHETA for um and had this to say based ony,, GFK’s consumer confidence survey Pointing out how pessimistic the British ar e versus other nations, she explained that fears about the macr o economic situation are holding consumers back, despite a relatively positive position on


ata – by category y.. onfidence survey


TA y.


ality ALUE NOT VOLUME


The latest facts and figures from the British Home Enhancement Trades Association (BHET(BHETA) and what they mean f or suppliers to the home improvement industr y.


Tr personal ability to spend.


So, there it is in a nutshell. We can look at the statistics and see shifts that can usually be attributed to seasonality


positives like Wlike World Cups and Royal weddings, and yet we know that the spending that drives gr owth and the economy as a whole may not r eally gain traction until some of the big and obvious uncertainties are resolved – one way or another . This month as the extraordinary summer finally gave way to autumn and winter


y,, weather and one-off Wo


ff nter


transport and recreation prices dropped, electricity and gas prices increased and there was an increase in gifting pur chase such as jewellery and watches as we enter the Festive season.


tt all about volumes versus value, We


however. In September the quan bought declined by 0.8% when compared with August. Online sales as a proportion of all retailing fell slightly and British banks approved 38,505 mortgages for new house pur chase below market expectations of 39,000. It is the lowest reading in six months and down by 6.7% from a year earlier .


r,,, the quantity r,, food and alcohol,


In contrast, the headline when focusing on the top-line categories in the home improvement and enhancement sectors is that we are seeing value growth more or less acr oss the boar d even if volumes are down.


Consumers are not put of The underlying tr end is The most significant t off ff


it seems by premium price points – seeking out the best as opposed to the most.


to p-lin e growth has come from air treatment, TA


up appr ox. 20% in value terms (compar ed to the benchmarked index of Jan – Dec 2017). Some of this we can put down to the summer’s hot weather but it is also a response to the increasing importance of comfort and simplicity in terms of products most purchased these days. In fact, apart from the seasonally volatile r,, most car, most categories are


r,, garden sector most ca


in value growth with the headline performers being plumbing and building products.


Consumer price Index – September 2018


The largest downward contribution came fr om food and non-alcoholic beverages wher e prices fell between August and September 2018 but rose between the same two months a year ago.


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