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CONSUMER SPENDING - JULY
RESEARCH: BARCLAYCARD CONSUMER SPENDING REPORT
LOCAL SHOPPING UP 43% AS CONSUMER SPENDING FLATTENS OUT
THE LATEST MONTHLY BARCLAYCARD’S CONSUMER SPENDING REPORT FOUND THAT SPENDINGDECLINED BY JUST 2.6% IN JULY, THE SMALLEST FALL SINCE LOCKDOWN BEGAN – AND SHOPPINGLOCAL SAW ANOTHER HUGE INCREASE OF OVER 43%.
July saw a continued improvement in consumer spending, thanks in part to the hot weather and in part to the further easing of lockdown restrictions, according to the latest Barclaycard’s Consumer Spending Report. Total consumer spending declined just 2.6% year-on-year in July, the smallest fall since lockdown.
Shopping locally was a major contributor to this recovery, with food and drink specialist stores – including off licences, greengrocers, and independent convenience stores – up 43.3% and takeaway and fast food up by 20.4%. These figures are a reflection of 45% of Brits choosing to support nearby businesses, with a fifth (20%) visiting local stores more often with 19% spending more than usual.
The Report has offered valuable insight since the start of the year and is exceptionally robust as Barclaycard sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions which provides the company with unique insight into UK consumer spending.
Spending on essential items grew 3.2% year-on-year in July, largely driven by supermarket shopping, which rose by 15%, helping to offset a continued significant drop in fuel spend of 22%.
While spending on non-essential items declined by 4.7%, this was actually a solid improvement from the 22.3% drop seen in June.
Restaurants, bars and pubs also saw some positive signs, relatively speaking, with overall declines of 64.2% and 43%. While these look like fairly disastrous year-on-year declines, they are marked improvements on June’s figures when the declines were 86% and 93.0% respectively.
In good news for the hospitality sector, one in three consumers (31%) is looking to support the industry where they can. Of this group, 36% are now dining at restaurants, 28% are going out for drinks and 34% intend on taking advantage of initiatives like ‘Eat Out to Help Out’.
A positive sign for high street retailers can also be seen in the survey’s finding that close to four in 10 (37%) UK adults are now unconcerned about visiting shops. Perhaps unexpectedly, shoppers aged over 55 are most likely to say they aren’t concerned, with 18-34-year-olds the least likely to feel this way. Of those who are comfortable heading in-store, 46% are reassured by the requirement to wear face coverings and 45% by the presence of antibacterial hand gel at many retail entrances.
Meanwhile, overall travel spend fell by 60.4% as a boost in staycation spending failed to offset continued restrictions on, and consumer reservations about, international travel. Nearly one in six (58%) Brits is concerned about travelling overseas, and half (50%) are hesitant to use public transport.
Brits are, however, feeling more positive about their personal finances, with confidence in household finances (72%) and ability to spend on non-essential items (58%) returning to levels not seen in the UK since January 2020. Nonetheless, a feeling of cautiousness remains, as trust in the UK economy remains low at 23%, and job security at 43%.
