Irish Household expenditure was up +4.0% year-on-year, the fastest in four months following a modest rise of +1.5% in September, research shows.
Halloween helped to boost Irish consumer spending in October, the latest Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, produced by IHS Markit.
“Shoppers were clearly in the mood to mark the annual celebrations with both high street and online spending recording growth, Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager, Visa said.
Halloween Celebrations
“Recreation and culture performed particularly well as families enjoyed the Halloween celebrations and mid-term break, Konopik added.
The research which measures expenditure across all payment types (cash, cheques and electronic payments), highlighted a pick-up in momentum at the start of the fourth quarter of the year.
“It was a positive start to the final quarter of the year and hopefully the momentum will continue as we head towards the festive season”.
The index showed that a number of categories benefited as households engaged in Halloween celebrations purchasing items like decorations and treats, as well as engaging in recreational activities.
Positive Growth
The Household Goods category, which includes home improvement stores that sell items like lighting and props, saw a +14.4% year-on-year spike in spending, the increase was the best for almost three years.
The Food & Drink (+1.2%) category also recorded positive growth.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
