Revealed: The real shopping priorities of 1,000 UK consumers in 2024

Most UK consumers (86%) are worried about the rise in living costs. As a result, 46% of shoppers are reconsidering their spending and 43% are focused on saving money going forward.  

This is just one of many findings revealed in Retail Week’s eye-opening new How They’ll Spend It 2024 report, which provides essential shopper insights to inform business-critical decisions and investments in the year ahead.  

The report draws on the exclusive results of interviews with 1,000 UK consumers, conducted on October 23, 2023, to determine where shoppers are prioritising spending, where they are cutting back and which factors on the path to purchase are most important to them. View the full findings here.

Produced in association with global parcel delivery management and shipping software leader nShift, the report makes it evident that, in 2024, consumers will have little money to spare so retailers must work harder to ensure that people are still coming to them with their spend. 

Consumer spending priorities

Many consumers are stripping shopping lists back to the essentials.  

Food and groceries are the number one priority among all age groups in our research when it comes to spending on new items, followed by general merchandise, entertainment and eating out, and fashion. Of the nine categories, electricals and gadgets are the lowest priority. 

Trading down is also becoming more prominent, with more than half of consumers (54%) revealing they are buying cheaper or own-brand grocery items.  

This suggests significant opportunities for retailers’ own-brand or value ranges that offer high quality at low prices, as well as loyalty schemes and compelling discounts.