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Consumer spending on the rise but discounters still winning, says Barclaycard

Published:  12 May, 2014

There are signs that UK consumers are also enjoying the benefits of an economic recovery with the latest spending figures showing a near 4% year-on-year increase in April thanks largely to the later Easter holidays and warmest April weather for three years. The on-trade enjoyed a very strong month with spending in restaurants up 16.8% year-on-year.

 

 

There are signs that UK consumers are also enjoying the benefits of an economic recovery with the latest spending figures showing a near 4% year-on-year increase in April thanks largely to the later Easter holidays and warmest April weather for three years. The on-trade enjoyed a very strong month with spending in restaurants up 16.8% year-on-year. 

But the big winners continue to be the hard discounters with another growth in sales of 30% on the year and clear switch by consumers to seek out retailers offering value for money. Overall transaction values were down a further 5%. The results are part of the latest consumer figures released by Barclaycard.

April also saw a slowdown in online sales as the warmer weather and holiday period saw more shoppers on the high street. Iin-store spending was up 3.1% with online sales growing by only 5.8% compared to 6.4% in March.

Barclaycard, however, said its data "strongly suggests that consumers remain cautious and continue to search for value in every shopping trip they make". Val Sarnonno Keating, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: "Though many economic indicators continue to paint a positive picture and the talk is of a recovering economy, the improvements are yet to trickle down and positively impact on household budgets. While the growth in spending in April is encouraging, this is as likely to reflect the better weather and the long Easter weekend as any improvement in the economy.

"Lack of wage growth has acted as a brake on consumer spending for a long time and, though there are signs that it could finally be improving, until we see several months of real wage increases, consumers will likely remain cautious with their spending, with growth remaining uneven in the coming months."

Spending in detail

Total spend growth April 2013 - April 2014 (select categories)

Rising % increase
Falling  % decrease
 

Family clothing

21.3%

Travel agents

1.3%

Garden centres

 20.2%

Furniture stores

2.2%

Restaurants

16.8%

Petrol

 5.8%

DIY stores

 11.9%

Theatre

12.2%

Woman's clothing

 9.9%

Supermarkets

 8.9%

Total spend growth April 2013 - April 2014 (key retail categories)

Rising/Flat 

Clothing

13.8%

Supermarkets

 8.9%

Electronic stores

 7.3%

Department stores

 4.1%

 

Online spend growth April 2013 - April 2014 (top performing categories)

Rising 

Men's clothing

66.1%

DIY stores

 44.0%

Women's clothing

 40.5%

Garden centres

 39.6%

Electronic stores

 34.7%

Family clothing

 22.7%

Total spend growth April 2013 - April 2014 (all UK regions)

All regions              % increase
 

London

 4.4%

North East

 4.3%

East of England

 4.3%

South East

 4.2%

East Midlands

 3.9%

Wales

 3.9%

South West

 3.7%

North West

 3.5%

Scotland

 3.2%

Northern Ireland

 3.2%

West Midlands

 3.2%

Yorkshire Humber

 2.6%

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