Face-to-Face expenditure showed a slight increase last month, which has ended a four-month sequence of decline.
Spending on the high street was up +0.3% year-on-year, a marginal rise but one that was indicative of a first improvement in expenditure in four months, according to the Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, produced by IHS Markit.
“Irish consumer spending remains flat, but there was a number of positive developments this month. August ended a negative three-month sequence for Face-to-Face merchants, with a 0.3% year-on-year rise," said Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager, Visa.
Spending Rises
A marginal rise in expenditure year-on-year in August, the first time that this has been the case since April, research shows.
The survey also revealed that spending was up by 0.4%, cancelling out a 0.3% reduction in July.
That said, the slight rate of growth still represented subdued consumer spending trends relative to the five-year series history.
The rate of expansion in eCommerce spending was also a slight in 0.7% in August and slower than that recorded in July.
Online expenditure has now risen in two successive months following a marginal decline in June.
Eight Monitored Sectors
All but two of the eight monitored sectors saw spending increase on an annual basis in August.
Solid increases were also recorded in the Health & Education which showed a 4.1% increase, last month and in a similar vein the Household Goods category jumped by 4%.
Food & Drink, meanwhile, posted a return to growth in August, with a rise of +2.7% year-on-year ending a three-month sequence of decline.
"Similarly, the majority of sectors saw growth, with Hotels, Restaurants & Bars standing out as the top performer with a +5.0% rise in spending.” Konopik added.
Modest increases in expenditure was seen in Recreation & Culture which was up 1.4% and Transport & Communication up by 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the two sectors that showed reductions in spend were Clothing & Footwear which fell by 2.6% and Miscellaneous Goods & Services decreased by 5.4%.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
