December heralds shoppers’ first festive rush as annual
spending increased during first week of the month
- Figures from Visa’s Weekly Christmas Spending Tracker
show consumer spend increased 2.5% year-on-year during the first
full week in December
- Mega Monday drives
online sales (up 4.4% year-on-year) while the High Street also
benefits from an annual uplift (up 1.9% year-on-year)
London, 12 December 2012 - As December began,
consumers stepped up spending in the countdown to Christmas,
according to the findings of the Visa Weekly Christmas Spending
Tracker (covering week of 3rd to 9th December). The data show that
spend is up 2.5% year-on-year as shoppers headed both online and
in-store to stock up on festive purchases.
The Visa Weekly Christmas Spending Tracker uses adjusted Visa
Europe card transaction data to provide a robust indicator of total
consumer expenditure across all payment methods. With £1 in every
£3 in the UK spent on a Visa card, the Tracker gives a uniquely
comprehensive and timely insight into the health of consumer
spending.
Online spend increased 4.4% year-on-year as consumers logged on
for Mega Monday, the busiest online
shopping day, on 3rd December to make the most of early online
delivery slots. Consumers also hit the High Street in force, with
in-store spend increasing 1.9% year-on-year.
Clothing and footwear continued to show the strongest category
increase according to the Tracker, with spend up 11.3% week-on-week
and 3.8% year-on-year, suggesting that people are looking to stock
up on party wear and clothes as a Christmas gift.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Steve Perry, Commercial
Director at Visa Europe, said: "December’s arrival has
really kick-started the countdown to Christmas as spending both
online and on the High Street increased last week. Early December
is typically a strong time for online shopping as consumers plan
ahead to ensure their Christmas deliveries arrive on time, and we
saw a new record number of transactions on Mega Monday, but the
cold snap and festive cheer seem to have got people in the mood to
hit the High Street too, with spend up 1.9% year-on-year.
"The data show that clothing retailers continue to benefit from
an uplift in spend as people head to the shops to get ready for the
Christmas party season."
Visa Europe predicted that Monday
3rd December would be Mega Monday - the UK’s busiest online
shopping day. Its final data reveals that online transactions
topped 7 million for the first time on a single day, with £365
million spent online on Visa cards.
How the Visa UK Christmas Spend Tracker is
compiled:
The Visa UK Christmas Spend Tracker uses card transaction data
to provide a robust indicator of total consumer expenditure across
all payment methods. It is based on spending on all Visa debit,
credit and prepaid cards which are used to make an average of over
1.9 billion transactions every quarter and account for £1 in £3 of
all UK spending. Working with Markit, these card spending data
figures are adjusted for a variety of factors such as card
issuance, changing consumer preferences to pay by card rather than
cash, and inflation. These adjustments mean that these data are
distinct from Visa Europe’s business performance and the Tracker
reflects overall consumer spending, not just that on cards.
About Visa Europe
In Europe, there are 460 million Visa debit, credit and
commercial cards. In the 12 months ending June 2012 those cards
were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of
€1.8 trillion. 14% of consumer spending at the point of sale in
Europe is with a Visa card, and almost 80% of that is on Visa debit
cards.
Visa Europe is independent of global Visa Inc., with an
exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual licence in Europe, while both
companies operate to ensure global interoperability. As a dedicated
European payment system Visa Europe is able to respond quickly to
the specific market needs of European banks and their customers -
cardholders and retailers - and to meet the European Commission’s
objective to create a true internal market for payments.
Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In
addition, Visa/PLUS is one of the world’s largest global ATM
networks, offering cash access in local currency in over 200
countries.
For more information, visit http://www.visaeurope.com/