Third of consumers struggling on salary, IPA Touchpoints finds

The data found that the proportion of consumers not coping on their income was marginally higher than last year but 17% higher than pre-lockdown 2020 figures.

Coupled with this, 6.6% of consumers are consolidating their debts or re-mortgaging this year, which is up on last year’s 5.9% and is a 50% increase on the pre-lockdown figure of 4.4%.

Almost half of consumers ( 45.9%) are actively looking for money-off vouchers, the Touchpoints database found, which is a 10% increase year-on-year and almost 45% higher than in pre-lockdown 2020.

More than a third of consumers ( 34.7%) check the comparative online price of a product they are looking at in-store, a 6% rise year-on-year and higher than in pre-lockdown 2020, when it stood at 28.3%.

In addition, 55% said they would switch brands to make use of a coupon. This is up from 52.9% year-on-year, and up 18% from pre-lockdown 2020.

The percentage of consumers going to the pub or bar each week has also reduced by 6% year-on-year from 33.7% to 31.7%.

Consumers’ visits to restaurants have also dropped this year, down 14% on the previous year to 25% of British consumers. In pre-lockdown 2020, this figure was 30.6%.

IPA TouchPoints is a cross-media, cross-device database detailing the daily habits and media usage of Great British adults aged 15 and over. The sample size for the 2024 IPA TouchPoints data is 6,053 adults.

IPA director of media research Belinda Beeftink said: “Inflation levels may have come down, but prices haven’t followed suit. As the Bank of England says, most things still cost more than they did before.

“A focus on value for money and rewarding loyalty may therefore prove vital for brands and their agencies in terms of their communication with their customers in these ongoing tough economic times.”