Consumers crumbling under high cost pressure

JOHANNESBURG - Consumers are crumbling under the cost of living crisis.

Food prices are exorbitant, municipal rates are increasing and there could be a hefty petrol increase in August.

Consumers are now resorting to buying the bare essentials.

According to Deloitte's Food Frugality Index, households have shifted towards purchasing essential food items.

READ: Consumer inflation falls to 5.4%

The shift is posing challenges for nonfood retailers.

They are being forced to compete more aggressively for the squeezed share of nonessential spending in South Africa.

The index shows that more consumers are spending their money on lower-cost meats or cuts and store brands.

It also shows 35-percent of consumers are buying less than they would like to despite inflation easing.