The consumer confidence index, measuring the degree of optimism among consumers, suggests the general sentiment has not improved. At the time when the latest GDP figures were revealed, consumer confidence index dropped from -26 to -27 between March and April, showing the recovery in confidence has stalled.
Fragile confidence affecting spending activity is reflected in the durable markets tracked by GfK, including IT, consumer electronics, domestic appliances and others, where the value of all sectors combined has seen a decline against last year.
Amid that, optical products (as tracked by GfK) showed a stable performance with value sales up 0.2 per cent in Q1 2013, compared to the same period last year. Spectacle frames form the bulk of sales, although it was contact lenses that recorded uplift and brought the overall value of optical sales tracked by GfK to positive figures.
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