Friday 20th March | #66 | Join Free
This weekend you might just pick up a parcel from an Evri locker at your local Tesco. The out-of-home delivery wars are heating up, and most sellers still haven't noticed. Consumer confidence is taking a hit (again), though Moonpig seem quietly optimistic about gifting. Make of that what you will. And the World Cup is around the corner, so at least there's that. Let's get into it. 👇 — Mike
In the basket today:
📉 Consumer confidence posts worst monthly drop since Covid
🎁 Moonpig signals gifting is holding up - just about
📦 Evri goes big on lockers with 500 new sites
⚽ The World Cup is coming - and UK consumers are already spending
🌼 Spring/Summer: Personalisation and Low-Cost Treats Dominate.
+plus three longer reads to take you into the weekend.
ECONOMY
📉 Consumer confidence posts worst monthly drop since Covid (via Retail Sector)
TL;DR: UK consumer sentiment fell 8.2 points in March, the sharpest single-month decline since the first lockdown, driven in large part by fears over the Middle East conflict rather than domestic tax changes, according to GlobalData.
Why it Matters: 63.3% of those surveyed expect the economy to worsen over the next six months. Almost half expect interest rates to rise, which hits mortgage holders hardest and pulls spending power away from retail. GlobalData is clear on the direction: discretionary categories take the pain first, while groceries and health and beauty are likely to hold up.
Your Move: If you're not selling essentials, your conversion path needs to work harder right now. Tighten your value proposition, lean into reviews and social proof, and make sure there's nothing in the checkout flow giving people a reason to pause. People will still spend, they just need less friction and more confidence.
POLL
🗳️ The Pulse
How confident are you feeling about your ecommerce business over the next six months?
ECOMMERCE
🎁 Moonpig signals gifting is holding up - just about (via Moonpig)
TL;DR: Pushing back against the narrative of slipping consumer confidence, Moonpig's latest forecast predicts high single-digit sales growth in their full year, showing there could still be room to grow in some discretionary markets.
Why it Matters: Moonpig is clearly banking on people cutting back on themselves before they stop marking occasions. Birthdays, anniversaries, and celebrations don't disappear when confidence dips, they just get more considered. Moonpig is forecasting growth through what is shaping up to be one of the sharpest confidence drops since Covid, so they’ll need to earn it. That means making gifting feel easy, personal, and worth the spend at a time when customers are scrutinising every purchase more carefully.
Your Move: If gifting isn't already part of how you position your products, think about whether it could be. A "gift this" callout, a message field at checkout, or a simple curated bundle costs almost nothing to test, and could hold conversion where other categories start to slip.