Despite an increase in December 2016, the rate of household spending has slowed for the third month, according to Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, which measures expenditure across all payment types (cash, cheques and electronic payments.)
This month’s data shows that consumer spending was up +3.6% year-on-year over last December. However, this latest rise has been the lowest reported since the Index report was implemented in September 2014. This may be due to the large rise in shoppers migrating to UK online retailers.
According to Philip Konopik, Country Manager, Ireland, Visa: “The large shift to online shopping in the run-up to Christmas continued in December with consumers seeking to take advantage of the value on offer from UK online retailers due to the sterling exchange rate.”
Konopik added, “Despite this there are a number of positives to be drawn from the data, with a range of sectors such as hotels, restaurants, bars and grocery retailers clearly benefiting from the festive period.”
The Hotels, Restaurants & Bars sector benefited from a spending spike during the same December period and saw the rate of expansion quicken to a three-month high of +5.8% year-on-year.
The Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index measures consumer expenditure across all payment types.
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
