UK clothing spend up 4.2 percent in September

Barclaycard has shared new data that reveals consumer spending in September has risen since August, with clothing seeing a “significant” increase of 4.2 percent.

This growth could be due to consumers investing in their winter wardrobe and parents preparing their children for the return of school, the report suggests. August’s clothing figure of 0.3 percent was the first increase since March.

The bank’s report contains hundreds of millions of customer transactions, as it sees data from nearly half of the UK’s debit and credit card transactions, and it has combined the data with additional consumer research.

The report also found spending on non-essential items has increased by 0.6 percent, the first rise since February. The high street’s physical shopping spend was down 1.9 percent, an improvement since August which saw a decrease of 6.7 percent. The report indicated that Brits are potentially becoming more comfortable with visiting shops.

Barclaycard’s data showed department store spending dropping by 0.2 percent and on a transaction basis, it was down 8.8 percent. However, other retailers showed a spend and transaction increase in their figures.

Sports and outdoor shops increased 30.2 percent by consumer spend and 14.5 percent by transaction. Pharmacy, health and beauty rose 9.4 percent by consumer spend and 0.2 percent by transaction.

Raheel Ahmed, head of consumer products at Barclays, said in a statement: “While the nation’s confidence in the UK economy has improved slightly, many are still cautious about the upcoming winter months, and the subsequent uncertainty it may bring has caused some to start stockpiling once more.”

Photo credit: Barclaycard