Sales of Taylor Swift and Foo Fightersconcert tickets helped to boost card spending by 4 per cent year-on-year in July.
This rise has been noted despite consumers’ ongoing battle with the cost of living.
Live entertainment, holiday bookings, and summer socialising motivated consumers to part with their cash, although careful discretionary spending saw the overall growth figure fall from June’s 5.4 per cent, Barclays said.
Spending on non-essential items was up 5.6 per cent on a year ago, with bars, pubs and clubs enjoying 7.6 per cent growth.
The entertainment sector saw a significant 15.8 per cent boost, with surges recorded on-sale dates for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and Foo Fighters’ upcoming concerts.
One in 10 consumers (11 per cent) said they were cutting back on other expenses to afford tickets to concerts and movies, while 10 per cent said they treated themselves to a concert or film ticket in July even though they could not really afford it.
Spending in supermarkets slowed considerably to 5.2 per cent from 9.8 per cent a month earlier as the rate of food price inflation continued to slow after peaking in March.
However, concern around rising food prices remains high at 91 per cent, leading 70 per cent of shoppers to look for ways to reduce the cost of their weekly shop – the highest percentage so far this year.
— (PA Archive)
Of those, 13 per cent reported having to remove items at the checkout to avoid going over budget, 35 per cent buying in bulk and 41 per cent shopping at multiple supermarkets to seek out deals.
Meanwhile, 73 per cent of consumers reported noticing examples of “shrinkflation”, up from 70 per cent in June, and 22 per cent noticing that some of the alcoholic drinks they buy such as beers, spirits and tinned cocktails have become weaker or contain less alcohol while costing the same amount.
This coincides with changes to alcohol duty introduced on 1 August, which now taxes drinks on their strength.
Takeaways and digital content and subscriptions rose 9.2 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively, with the growth in streaming services possibly linked to platforms cracking down on account sharing.
Travel spending also continued to perform well, with travel agents and airlines seeing sales increases of 7.8 per cent and 39.1 per cent respectively.
— (PA Wire)
Esme Harwood, director at Barclays, said: “While July’s weather was a washout for clothing retailers, it was a ray of sunshine for takeaways and streaming services, which performed better than expected.
“Entertainment also enjoyed a huge boost, largely thanks to pre-sales for Taylor Swift’s and Foo Fighters’ upcoming stadium tours.
“With value for money still a major concern at the supermarket, eagle-eyed consumers are also spotting signs of drinkflation – shrinkflation on alcoholic drinks.
“This could be due to manufacturers making changes to their products ahead of the recent changes to alcohol duty, which mean that drinks are now taxed according to strength rather than type.”
Additional reporting by agencies
