Restaurants' online spend surged 27% year-on-year in April

Consumer spending grows 3.4% as UK shows modest recovery from the ‘Beast from the East’.

Data from Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, shows that non-essential spending rose 3.7% year-on-year. Consumer spending recovered slightly from a slowdown in March (2.0%), as Brits shifted their priorities from the previous month to help give spending on ‘nice-to-haves’ a boost.

Entertainment proved a bright spot, rising 7.1%, although failing to match the double-digit growth seen for much of 2017. Despite a mini-heat wave towards the end of the month, mixed weather throughout April – including a cold and rainy Easter weekend – kept pub (7.6%) and restaurant (7.2%) growth fairly modest.

Of these, over half (54%) would pare back on treats for themselves and others, while four in ten (44%) would manage their finances by shopping at discount stores more often. A similar proportion (41%) say they would rein-in on nights out, suggesting that even the ‘experience economy’ – which has performed strongly over the past year – is not immune.

Paul Lockstone, managing director at Barclaycard, said, “Whilst spending has recovered slightly from the effects of the ‘Beast from the East’, it’s likely we’ve seen some missing expenditure from March carry over to April as the weather finally allowed shoppers to venture back outside.

“Consumers prioritised spending on the ‘nice-to-haves’ last month, but there’s no indication that they are looking to loosen the purse strings quite yet. Instead, the UK seems to be caught in a holding pattern, with people still budgeting carefully. Looking ahead, uncertainty around interest rates is weighing on the minds of many, with people prepared to cut back on non-essentials in order to cope with a rate rise.”