UK Consumer Spending Report

Hospitality and Leisure

Consumer cut back on food and drink spending

Spend on overall Eating & Drinking grew by 2.8% in April 2024, an slight uplift compared to the year-on-year growth in March 2024 (2.6%). This uplift was driven by a rise in spending at Bars, Pubs & Clubs, at 3.9% in April 2024 compared to 3.2% in March 2024, as the Easter weekend likely encouraged consumers to socialise.

However, spend at Restaurants decreased by -13.1% in April 2024 versus this time last year, a further decline compared to March 2024 (-12.6%), whilst spend growth on Takeaways and Fast Food remained flat at 3.0%. This comes as 49% of consumers say they are concerned about how much they spend on food and drink, with the same proportion making the effort to cut back on discretionary spending. Of this group, the majority are spending less on dining out and ordering takeaways, both at 54% respectively.**

Meanwhile, spending on Entertainment grew by 3.2% in April 2024, on par with March 2024 (3.1%), as families spent on leisure during the half-term break.

Spend at Travel Agents remained strong at 7.1% in April 2024, on par with the year-on-year growth in March 2024 (7.1%), as consumers continued to book summer getaways.

However, spend at Hotels, Resorts & Accommodation declined by -0.7% in April 2024, marking the first month of negative growth in this category since May 2023 (-4.9%). This is likely due to 32% of consumers wanting to prioritise holidays abroad over staycations this year, with 39% of these consumers motivated by the desire to escape the wet and cold weather in search of some sunshine.**

Retail

Consumers look to increase savings at Supermarkets

Spend at Supermarkets increased by 1.1% in April 2024, the lowest year-on-year growth since June 2022 (-0.8%). This comes as food price inflation dropped to 4.0% from 5.0% the prior month, and reached its lowest level since November 2021 (2.5%).*

Nonetheless, despite the fall in food inflation, a record 73% of consumers are actively looking for ways to reduce the cost of their weekly shop, the highest percentage since Barclays started tracking this metric in January 2023. 44% of supermarket savers are avoiding impulse buys at the checkout, while 37% are stockpiling their go-to products when they are on offer.**

Consumers are also trying to cut down on their broader household costs, with spend growth in the Household category falling by -4.1% year-on-year. This comes as 40% of consumers say that they will not spend on their home or garden ahead of the summer, with many are opting to postpone renovations or home improvements.**

Overall Retail spending declined by -0.1% in April 2024, marking the first month of negative growth in this category since September 2022 (-2.0%), with in-store shopping being hampered by April’s cold snap. Specifically, spend on face-to-face retail (excluding grocery shopping) and Clothing declined by -2.5% and -2.1% respectively compared to this time last year

However, Pharmacy, Health & Beauty retailers bucked this trend, seeing a 4.9% increase in April 2024, boosted by a number of macro factors, such as the “lipstick effect”, the wellness boom and viral makeup and skincare videos.