The Pulse: Builders’ merchants’ sales expectations have waned in the last 4 months but are still positive.
Confidence in the market is weakening along with weakening sales expectations but both are still positive.
Confidence in their own business however is at historically high levels.
Supplier price rises are problems for most merchants, as they struggle to pass them on to the market. More than seven out of ten complain about squeezed margins, while over a third of merchants suffer from slow payments and bad debts.
Nearly one in two merchants have been hit by Online competition.
The Pulse, by MRA Research, is a monthly tracking survey of merchants’ confidence and prospects. Telephone interviewing took place from the 1st to the 2nd June 2023 (2 working days).
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.
You can now subscribe to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox each month. Sign up to The Pulse.
