Second lockdown more than halved consumer spend in pubs

08-Dec-2020 - Last updated on 08-Dec-2020 at 10:53 GMT

Customer spend: the research carried out on behalf of Barclaycard polled 2,000 respondents, providing a representative sample of consumers

Pubs and bars saw a drop of 56.7% in spend for November compared to last year due to the second national lockdown restrictions, new data found.

The research from Longitude Research, which was carried out on behalf of Barclaycard between 20 and 23 November featuring 2,000 respondents in a representative sample, also revealed that restaurants saw a marginally steeper drop in spend at 56.7% year on year.

The second enforced closure of hospitality businesses meant consumer spending in the sector fell from a decrease of 32.7% in October for pubs, year on year and 13.5% in restaurants.

Supermarkets, which remained open in November, saw a 17.9% year-on-year rise in expenditure – up from 13.9% in October while online grocery shopping also saw a significant rise of 97.4%.

Festive plans

However, spending on non-essential items contracted by 4.6%, with department stores and clothing seeing a drop of 18% and 13% respectively – the largest decreases in both categories since June, when the first lockdown restrictions were still in place.

Looking ahead, a third (33%) said they were feeling more upbeat about their finances and job security due to news about the Covid-19 vaccines.

Confidence about household finances remained at 69% – marginally up from October at 67% and a fifth (20%) planned to buy “big-ticket” items in the near future, as they are optimistic life will start returning to normal soon.

When it came to the festive season, more than a quarter (26%) said they had put up their Christmas tree earlier than normal and 21% will spend more on gifts than usual.

However, not all consumers were optimistic with confidence in the UK economy remaining at 23%, compared to 31% in November 2019.

Continued to suffer

Barclaycard head of consumer products Raheel Ahmed said: “Despite the restrictions in November, Brits feeling more positive about their household finances as they start to prepare for the festive season.

“Christmas trees are going up just that bit earlier and many are planning to spend more treating their loved ones after such a testing year.

“Supermarkets, local shops and online retailers have all performed strongly while the longer evenings at home saw spend soar on digital subscriptions and electronics, helped by new consoles hitting the market.

“Unfortunately, the hospitality and entertainment sectors have continued to suffer. The big question now is whether Brits will flock to the high street for Christmas shopping after the November lockdown, providing a much-needed boost in December.”