Better mood, changing retail

Ever since the beginning of the economic recession consumer sentiment improved in Europe for the first time: in 8 out of 12 countries people are more optimistic than last year and are planning to spend more – reveals the 2014 Cetelem Panorama, a representative survey conducted with nearly 8,000 participants. While last year only 33 percent of consumers were planning to increase their consumption, this year the same ratio is 40 percent. Rated on a scale of 1 to 10, the Germans (6.3), the Belgians (5.6) and the British (4.7) are the most satisfied with their country’s economic situation; Hungarians rated the country at 3.4 – an improvement from last year’s 2.6. Zoltán Lukácsi, marketing director of Magyar Cetelem Bank told our magazine that it is great news for Hungarian firms that 38 percent of Hungarians intend to spend more in the next 12 months. According to the survey, the majority of people still shop in traditional stores but 4 out of 10 consumers already compare prices online and another 32 percent thinks it is a useful idea.