UK consumer spending continued its recovery across the summer months driven by growth in dining and travel expenditure, according to Cardlytics’ latest State of Spend report, which tracks consumer spending across 22 million UK bank accounts.
The rise of the domestic ‘staycation’, driven by travel restrictions and consumers less willing to go abroad, saw spend on holiday resorts like Centre Parcs, Butlins and Sykes Cottages jump by more than half (51%) at its peak in mid-July. Following year-on-year increases in July (+39%) and August (+4%), growth continued into September (+5% for the first week).
The dining industry saw significant increases in spend driven by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme resulting in dramatic growth, particularly in casual dining (+126% month-on-month) and pub dining (+111%). Sales began falling in September once the scheme ended, and with the 10pm curfew and tier restrictions in place, the embattled sector may face challenges ahead.
Duncan Smith, Commercial Director, Cardlytics, commented: “The popularity of staycations this summer has been a major help for many brands across sectors. While clearly external factors impacted this behaviour, travel and leisure companies will be hoping in the long run that they’ll be able to hold on to some of these new customers once travel restrictions across tiers are lifted.”