Consumer spending grows 4.6% in July, pubs grow 15.5%
Consumer spending growth hit 4.6% in July year-on-year, according to the latest analysis of UK consumer spending by Barclaycard.
Chris Wood, Managing Director at Barclaycard, said, “July was a prime example of how the weather impacts the way consumers spend their money. The heat wave that dominated the start of the month provided a lift to the high street – especially clothing and department stores – as consumers took to the shops to update their wardrobes.
“But as the weather deteriorated, winners emerged in different categories including cinema, which was also bolstered by summer blockbusters, and takeaways which consumers turned to avoid the damp and blustery conditions.”
“Overall, the rise in discretionary spending in July echoes a six-month trend where consumers, supported by significant tailwinds such as zero inflation, rising wages and clear guidance on interest rates, feel more comfortable splashing out on the nice-to-haves.”
High temperatures at the start of the month brought consumers out onto the high street and helped drive up spending on clothing, in department stores and on electronics, leading to growth levels of 3.6% and 2.1% in the first two weeks for in-store spend.
Towards the end of July when temperatures dropped, people opted to stay in, causing in-store spend growth to fall in the third and fourth weeks of the month to 1.5 %and 0.1 %respectively.
Online shopping picked up some of the slack, with consumers spending 18.8 %more online when the weather turned – up from 12.3 % at the start of the month.
Pubs saw double digit growth of 15.5 % as people took advantage of the fine weather in the first part of the month, but they emptied out as the rains fell; growth nearly halved to 8.7 % in the last week. Consumers appeared to stayed at home and order a takeaway instead - spending on takeaway food was up 61.4 % at the end of July.
