Consumer spending news and archive

January storms boosted online and non-essential spending in the UK

Essential spending returned to growth in January after four consecutive months of decline, while wellness and social media trends drove discretionary purchases, according to new data from the Barclays Consumer Spend report. Despite falling consumer confidence in the UK economy, down five percentage points to 21 percent, spending on essential...

Retail

Industry leaders comment on September retail sales growth

Retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in September and increased 3.6 percent by value and 4 percent by volume. Three industry leaders comment on the latest figures: Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “September saw the strongest retail sales growth since January, and the highest sales volume since March 2022. This...

Retail

Consumer card spending growth flatlined in March

Non-essential spending growth hit an 18-month low in March in the UK, as a new report from Barclays shows that consumer card spending growth flatlined, on par with February’s modest 1.9 percent uplift and significantly less than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 3.8 percent. This was due to a slowdown in non-essential spending, which saw its...

Retail

December consumer spending grew but retail spending stalled

Consumer card spending grew 2.3 percent year-on-year in December 2023, less than the latest Consumer Prices Index inflation rate of 4.2 percent and lower than November’s growth of 2.9 per cent, according to the latest data from the Barclays Consumer Spend report. While entertainment and travel bookings thrived, Barclays said that retail spending...

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September’s sun “boosted” high street spending

Consumer card spending grew 4.2 percent year-on-year in September as the late summer sun boosted in-store spending across the UK, according to the latest Barclays report. September’s growth was less than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 6.3 percent, but higher than August’s growth figure of 2.8 percent, with spending on non-essential items...

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High street spending slowed during rainy August

High street sales were hampered by wet weather in early August, reveals the latest consumer card spending index from Barclays, as fewer Brits visited shops. The report reveals that while consumer spending grew 2.8 percent year-on-year in August, it was noticeably lower than the latest CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers'...

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How will inflation affect consumer spending?

The multi-million dollar word on every retailer’s lips right now is inflation. Despite the Inflation Reduction Act passing through the House and the Senate, and signed by President Biden, inflation is still poised as an issue for the state of the economy. CNBC recently reported that 70 percent of Americans are looking for extra work to combat...

Retail

UK consumer spending sees first rise in clothing and footwear in two years

Consumer spending on clothing and footwear rose in 3.6 percent in July, the first increase in three years, according to Visa and HIS Markit’s monthly consumer spending index. Household expenditure rose +2.4 percent on the year in July, after -6.5 percent decline in June. E-commerce spending soared at record pace, up 16.2 percent as consumers...

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Outlook: EU and US apparel consumption could fall by 300 billion US dollars in 2020

Most European countries and the United States have been in lockdown since mid-March due to the Covid 19 pandemic, and brick and mortar stores have been closed accordingly. Although online retail continues, it is proving difficult due to falling consumer spending, transport issues and disruptions of the supply chain. A forecast by Indian...

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UK clothing spend suffers dip in January

Consumer spending was up 2.9 percent year-on-year in January after a slow December, but that didn’t help the clothing industry which, along with department stores, saw expenditure decline for the fourth consecutive month. Data from Barclaycard showed that essential spending climbed to 6.4 percent, the highest level for five months, fuelled by...

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UK consumer spending falls at fastest rate in eight months

Consumer spending dropped by 1 percent in December 2018, with the run-up to Christmas hitting the sector particularly hard, new data shows. Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index, compiled by IHS Markit, revealed that overall expenditure continued to decline at the end of last year - with December’s -1.0 percent year-on-year reduction the fastest...