Understanding the mood of your customers and how their habits are trending is a key ingredient to business success.

I know it sounds boring but following the data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics can uncover some fascinating insights in to how your customers are feeling and behaving.

Bookmark www.abs.gov.au in your browser and go have a look.

For example, with the recent release of the ABS’ Retail Trade figures from the December quarter we see that for once the Christmas season wasn’t all about spending.

With the traditional Christmas rush and festive pressure to find that perfect gift, retail spending was projected to increase by 0.5 per cent for the quarter, but fell short of its goal rising just 0.2 per cent.

I’ve spoken about it before, and we’ve mentioned it on the Business Builders website, consumers are becoming increasingly frugal and conservative with their money. Spending less on products and services and more on DIY and home leisure goods.

Things are tough in the two-speed economy for those on the slow gear. They can’t afford to outsource household services like they used to… they’ve gone back to a ‘simpler time’.

Some are calling it “Beavernomics” after the 1950s television family Leave It To Beaver.

It shows in sales of hardware, building and garden supplies, which jumped by 5.4 per cent in the quarter. This either means that people are finding DIY the way to go, or ‘The Block’ is back on TV.

Another sector that benefitted from recent spending trends is publishing. Book and newspaper sales had the biggest increase in numbers for the period, jumping up 6.1 per cent. People are staying home with a good book rather than heading outside and spending.

This correlates with the 7.3 per cent fall in money spent in restaurants and cafés.

Independent butchers, grocers and bakers were also hit hard with people spending less on food. I doubt it’s got anything to do with our increasing obesity problem but more with the escalating cost of food.

While inflation is subdued the average numbers are dragged down by the falling cost of electronics and cars which masks the big rise in food.

The conclusion made from the quarter shows that your customers aren’t in the mood to spend, with higher petrol and electricity prices not helping anyone.

To top it all off, the figures show that picky consumers are not even being lured by the lower prices, which fell by 0.1 per cent, while spending fell further to 0.3 per cent.

Look at your stock and services. In this business climate push products which cater for the frugal consumer.

OK, that was the bad news, now for the good.

Out of the 500 larger and 2,750 smaller businesses surveyed, the numbers show that sales for smaller retailers fared much better over the holiday season, rising by 0.6 per cent while the big chains suffered a 0.1 per cent loss.

And while no one knows how long the era of the cautious consumer will last, there are good reasons to start spending again, provided that the Reserve Bank sits on their interest rates for the time being.

The long-term outlook for retailers is looking good. With rising wages and wealth at record highs, we can hope for the imminent return of the consumer.