“[Customers] are telling us they are reducing spend on things like visits to the hairdresser and beauty services, entertainment, and gifts. Eating out, takeaway and coffees from the cafe are increasingly being seen as treats for a special occasion,” Coles chief executive Leah Weckert said last Monday.
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“Unsurprisingly, they are looking for more specials, more affordable brands, and more affordable cuts of meat. Many of them are meal planning, stretching out the time between purchases of less urgent items such as cleaning and household items. And they are looking to catalogues, loyalty programs, and in-store markdowns to make their budgets go further,” she added.
At the same time, supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have flagged double-digit spikes in shoplifting, a trend happening around the globe.
NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said the bank was seeing many people budgeting for the first time and saving $300 on average a month.
“A story close to home at NAB – in our offices we’re seeing long queues at the complimentary coffee machines as our colleagues swap a $5 takeaway for a free office brew. Nobody was using these machines a year ago! But I am delighted they want to be back in the office, so no complaints,” McEwan said in a speech last Thursday.
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