Food retailers & restaurateurs will be watching their own cash registers to see evidence of Roy Morgan research which indicated that Australian consumer confidence increased for the fourth week in a row, as the Government’s stimulus packages was delivered to Australian families and pensioners.

The latest weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating increased 1.5 points from the previous week, to 99.9. The rating was 26.9 points below the average index registered in December 2007, but was 2.6 points higher than the 2008 average of 97.4.

Over the week ending 14 December, more Australians (29%, up 2 percentage points compared to the previous week) thought their personal financial situation was better than it was 12 months ago, while 35% (down 1 percentage point) said they were worse off.  People not on the receiving end of Government endowments, such as self-funded retirees and small business operators could be forgiven for saying the latter.

While noone is popping the champagne yet, according to Roy Morgan, more respondents (38%, up 4 percentage points) expect to be financially better off over the next 12 months, than the 19% (down 1 percentage point) who expect to be worse off. Certainly lower interest rates, fuel prices & aggressive retail discounting will benefit many consumers and food retailers who tailor their offer to the more conservative spending trends should continue to trade satisfactorily.

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