{"id":6752,"date":"2019-09-19T13:13:55","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T12:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=6752"},"modified":"2023-01-16T15:00:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T15:00:43","slug":"brexit-uncertainty-focus-customer-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/brexit-uncertainty-focus-customer-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Brexit uncertainty means it\u2019s more important than ever for retailers to focus on customer communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consumers \u2013 and retailers \u2013 are nervous. With prime minister Boris Johnson now pushing hard on October 31\u2019s Brexit deadline the uncertainty that still surrounds exactly how Britain will leave the EU, and the impact that may have, means a hesitation to spend by consumers. How retailers react to such nervousness could spell the difference between longer-term survival and failure.<\/p>\n

The impact was clear in August figures from GfK\u2019s Consumer Confidence Index<\/a>, which showed a decline to -14 compared to -7 for the same month in 2018. The index comprises a number of different measures, including attitudes to personal financial situations over the past 12 months and over the next 12, as well as opinions of the general economic situation over the same periods.<\/p>\n

The falls were most dramatic as consumers looked forward, with a 5 point fall in their confidence in their personal financial situations and a 6 point fall in the general economic situation.<\/p>\n\t

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<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\tCloud comms for retail<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t

Discover the benefits of cloud communications for retail<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t

Learn about how RingCentral can provide your business with a single communications platform.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tLearn more<\/a>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t\n

Brexit takes the blame <\/strong><\/h2>\n

And retailers have already started blaming the nervousness for falling sales. In August, McColl\u2019s chief executive Jonathan Miller cited poor weather and \u201congoing macro-economic uncertainty<\/a>\u201d for a fall in Q3 sales. In July Sainsbury\u2019s chief executive Mike Coupe was reported as saying the October deadline was \u201cabout as bad as it gets<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in early August the British Retail Consortium cited a consumer spending increase of only 0.3% for July – the lowest figure ever recorded for the month. \u201cBrexit uncertainty has left consumer spending languishing<\/a>,\u201d said the BRC\u2019s chief executive Helen Dickinson.<\/p>\n

And according to a survey published by Global-e, in association with Censuswide, it\u2019s unlikely to get better any time soon. It suggested that almost half (49%) of retailers anticipate a collapse in consumer confidence<\/a> in the UK post-Brexit. A similar amount (43%) said they will raise prices post-Brexit. Is it any surprise consumers are wary of the future?<\/p>\n

Why communication is key <\/strong><\/h2>\n

So what can retailers do? As ever communication is vital to ensure they remain as close to their customers as possible. They may not have all the answers in terms of what the future brings pre-or post-Brexit but customers are more likely to buy from retailers they trust.<\/p>\n

It is those that invest in building strong relationships with their customers through great customer service and experiences, and who invest in technology to enable that, who are best placed to help steer their businesses and their customers through the uncertainty of Britain\u2019s departure from the EU.<\/p>\n

Learn more about how great customer communications can help your retail business through the uncertainty of Britain’s departure from EU.<\/span>Learn more<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consumers \u2013 and retailers \u2013 are nervous. With prime minister Boris Johnson now pushing hard on October 31\u2019s Brexit deadline the uncertainty that still surrounds exactly how Britain will leave … Read more “Why Brexit uncertainty means it\u2019s more important than ever for retailers to focus on customer communication”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":6755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Brexit uncertainty means it\u2019s more important than ever for retailers to focus on customer communication | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Britain will leave the EU, and the impact that may have, means a hesitation to spend by consumers. 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