Consumer spending shrank by 36.5% year-on-year in April – although some stores such as off-licences, butchers and bakeries bucked the downward trend, Barclaycard said. Spending on non-essentials declined at a faster rate, of 47.7%, with travel, which includes public transport, seeing a spending decline of 86.8%, as much of the UK stopped commuting. Specialist food and drink stores – which include off-licences, greengrocers, independent convenience stores, butchers and bakeries – were a bright spot, recording 37.7% annual spending growth. Barclaycard said this was helped by people continuing to support local businesses, with more than half (57%) in its consumer research saying the current environment has made them realise how much they value them. The Barclaycard report combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research to indicate UK spending trends.

Source: Irish Independent May 12, 2020 23:03 UTC