Published
Oct 9, 2017
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UK consumer spending down as fashion suffers says Visa

Published
Oct 9, 2017

Visa UK issued a fairly bleak spending index report on Monday with total sales dropping 0.3% and clothing sales down a worse 1% last month. The fact that clothing and footwear spend lagged the consumer spending market as a whole is bad news for fashion. The sector had been hoping shoppers wouldn’t single out fashion as an area they could cut back on if belts were being tightened. 


UK shoppers bought less clothing and footwear than a year ago during September



In August, when overall spending rose 0.2% but clothing spend fell 1.2%, it was clear that fashion certainly was being singled out, and the September figures appear to have added to the problem. They also show that even with consumers buying new-in autumn ranges, fashion doesn’t top the consumer priority list.

Visa’s figures also show overall consumer spending dropping in four of the past five months, which is the worst run since 2013. They come against a backdrop of Brexit talks that appear to be going nowhere and general political uncertainty after the general election.

Visa’s index monitors eight sectors, covering both product and lifestyle spending and more of them fell than rose last month.

The payment card giant said that the general fall was largely driven by lower expenditure through face-to-face categories, as e-commerce spending continued to increase. Face-to-face dropped 3.2% in September, following a 2.7% fall in August. Spending in this category has now contracted in each of the past five months. 

And while e-commerce growth was 2.8%, that wasn’t anywhere near enough to fill the spending gap. Additionally it was quite a low increase given that the category had risen 6.4% in August.

Some good news came in miscellaneous good & services, which includes jewellery, hair and beauty, with a 6.6% September rise after a 10% August increase.

Kevin Jenkins, UK & Ireland Managing Director at Visa, said: “Despite a slight uptick in UK consumer spending in August, the story of the past few months has been one of wariness in household spending. September saw another decline in overall expenditure, continuing the recent trend of belt tightening, as the landscape of financial uncertainty takes its toll. 

“The recreation and culture sector declined at its fastest rate since July 2013, bucking a trend in which the ‘experience economy’ has remained buoyant in the face of stagnant wage growth and increased inflation. 

“The trend of spending shifting to online retailers shows no sign of abating with e-commerce continuing to show resilience. In contrast, the suffering of the British high street shows no signs of slowing, as evidenced by another fall in face-to-face spending.”

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