By Nick Fry
Consumer confidence has remained stagnant in 2013, and I put a lot of that down to the continued destabilisation and infighting of the federal Labor Government.
This instability can give people a sense we have a government more interested in themselves than serving the public and keeping our economy strong.
Once consumer confidence flatlines, the first major impact is felt in retail, and all retailers have been feeling that in recent times. There needed to be a circuit breaker.
Many of us were counting the days until 14 September 2013, the date Gillard set for the election, thinking that would be the circuit breaker we need.
Now, with this latest turn of events, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd returned, this may lead to an earlier election, which would be a Godsend for small independent retailers.
We know that, historically, consumers tighten the reins in the lead up to an election, so calling a September election in January just further stifled spending, and wider business investment, in an already challenging retail environment.
So, assuming the election date is bought forward, this is good news.
But if Rudd decides to establish his incumbency, the pressure valve impacting on retail spending will not have been released but further tightened. And this would be bad news.
I can’t speak for all of my members about the intricacies of political events unfolding in Canberra — suffice to say that retailers are the first to feel the impact of any bad consumer sentiment — and whilst this Canberra soap opera continues on up until the election, it will remain a very challenging environment in which to operate.
An August Election would leave just eight weeks or so before we can all get on with our lives: a new government can assume authority and consumers can get back to spending after a few years of uncertainty.
Nick Fry is the head of product and marketing at Leading Appliances, a buying group representing more than 60 independent electrical retailers.