UK consumer mobility has increased 57% in the past year, according to data from location-powered programmatic ad firm Blis’ latest Consumer Confidence Pulse tracker.

The Pulse interactive dashboard – which currently runs in the UK, US, Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, and Australia – tracks responses to four questions around the economy, household financials, spend intent, and COVID-19 anxiety. It now also tracks consumer movement over a rolling 13-month period across 18 retail and lifestyle sectors, enabling brands to further understand consumer trends.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen brands pivot their operations, strategy and messaging multiple times to meet their consumers’ concerns about safety,” said Charlie Smith, Managing Director, Europe at Blis. “The new dashboard will be an invaluable tool for brands to get ahead of the curve by ensuring their campaigns and messaging are striking the right tone and audiences at the right time.” 

The tracker – which will also be launched in India, New Zealand, and the Philippines in the coming months – found that confidence in the UK economy has improved from -12% to -1% over the course of the pandemic – the single biggest month-on-month increase in the past year. Despite this, there is growing uncertainty around the personal finances of consumers as various government schemes begin to wind down. The personal economic climate has also meant that consumers are continuing to focus on saving and clearing debts rather than spending.

“Our data has shown that consumers are capable of exercising their own caution in advance of government-imposed restrictions,” said Alex Wright, Global Insights Director at Blis. “However, even with the virus remaining a pervasive and justifiable concern for many, the growing number of people becoming more active month-after-month in retail and lifestyle activities suggests that the need to start getting back to ‘normal’ outweighs the caution.”