The Pulse

The Pulse: Merchants’ outlook recovers from August’s dip

Merchants’ outlook improved in September, with sales expectations and business and market confidence up compared to August.

Pressures in the supply chain eased slightly with 72% of merchants reporting that all, or more than half of their suppliers are now able to supply them. This is marginally up from 69% in August’s survey. However, long lead times are prevalent. Supply is of particular concern for imported products, and this has tempered expectations in the medium term.

The Pulse, by MRA Research, is a monthly tracking survey of merchants’ confidence and prospects. Telephone interviewing took place between 1st and 6th September 2021.

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The Pulse is a monthly trends survey that tracks builders’ merchants’ confidence and prospects over time and is produced by MRA Research, the market research division of MRA Marketing. View all reports here.

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