The Retailer

UK households are continuing to struggle to make ends meet, despite the recession being "over", according to a new report by Shoppercentric, an independent agency specialising in shopper behaviour research. This study follows up from Shoppercentric's "Shopping in the Recession" reports published in January, April and December 2009, and its purpose is to provide an indication of how shopper behaviour is changing - now and in the future.

Shoppercentric reported back in January 2009 that 24% of shoppers said that they had made major changes to their spending – as of July 2010 this figure has now risen to 31%.

Furthermore, 75% of all shoppers surveyed agreed that they had made some changes to their spending – highlighting the almost universal impact of the on-going economic situation.

Danielle Pinnington, managing director at Shoppercentric, said: "In April 2009, we reported that 11% of shoppers claimed their salaries had been affected by pay cuts/pay freezes or a drop in hours and hence we saw a fall in spending habits as a result.

"We then noted an improvement in this situation in December 2009 (5% were reportedly affected by salary cuts etc.), however our latest report shows that the situation has worsened again with 12% of shoppers now being affected.

"It's still a very challenging time for a lot of people - despite reports of green shoots on the horizon. Difficulties in managing budgets don't just disappear overnight, many people will have gone into debt to just keep afloat. It's a case of looking at how and where they can make savings and work towards recovery."

The report also found that most shoppers have adopted the strategy of Prudence (87%) rather than Economising (82%) or Store Switching (76%). It's all about avoiding waste, cooking from scratch and being careful about what they buy.