Consumer card spending grew 4.3% year-on-year in April, slightly higher than March (4.0%), as rising costs continue to place pressure on Brits’ finances.
The latest Barclays Consumer Spending Index shows spending on groceries increased 5.5%, yet this was significantly lower than the latest ONS food price inflation rate (19.2%) and smaller than March’s growth (7.1%). This comes as 89% say they are concerned about the impact of rising food prices on their household finances, while 67% are looking for ways to reduce the cost of their weekly shop.
Popular money-saving methods adopted by these shoppers include buying yellow sticker items (38%) and using vouchers or loyalty points to get money off at the checkout (37%). In addition, (69%) have been making product “swaps” to save money recently, with 27% shifting from supermarket own-brand premium ranges to standard or value ranges, and 24% swapping fresh food for frozen food.
In addition, spending on fuel dropped -9.3%, due to falling petrol and diesel prices.
At-home entertainment and ‘insperiences’ also saw increased demand – fast food increased 9.0% as Brits treated themselves to a night in with a boxset and a takeaway.
The research shows consumers are feeling noticeably more confident in their household finances and ability to spend on non-essential items (67% and 56%, respectively), compared to last month (59% and 48%, respectively). Meanwhile, optimism in the future of the UK economy has also increased to 25%, up two percentage points on March’s figures.
Abbas Khan, UK Economist at Barclays, said: “High inflation continues to squeeze real household disposable incomes and constrain consumption. However, this has been somewhat offset by the decline in wholesale energy prices and the price cap on household energy bills, which are contributing to an improvement in consumer confidence.”
