Yolt user data reveals August as the month of summer shopping
Ahead of the ONS retail sales release for August, Yolt, the smart-thinking money app, has revealed new data which demonstrates that, when compared to February before the pandemic was declared, spending on shopping went up 36% in August. The data also revealed that users had been spending more, but less often, when compared to February, with a 15% decrease in the amount of general daily transactions, but a 12% increase in the amount people were spending per transaction.
Many retailers including Primark and H&M also saw upticks in spending of up to 32% compared to August 2019.
August also saw an increase in spending relating to leisure activities, returning to the same level as earlier this year – transactions actually went up 3% when compared to February.
Despite the increase in spending, the Yolt data also revealed a 40% increase in the amount people saved in August when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Pauline van Brakel, chief product officer at Yolt, comments ahead of tomorrow’s Office for National Statistics August retail sales figures: “Consumer confidence seems to have returned in terms of spending through the month of August based on our user data – although as we have seen with the news on John Lewis’ results today, the effects of lockdown earlier in the year are still having an impact on many retailers. There is no doubt that during last month the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme will have had an impact on footfall on high streets and helped to stimulate spending – but with the scheme over, and the new ‘rule of six’ coming into play, spending could be curbed in the coming months.
“Our data implies that as confidence in going out and spending during the last month of the summer seemed to grow, people spent a little more but saved a little less than the previous month (down 5% compared with July). It is encouraging to see that people are still putting away more in savings than they were pre-pandemic. At Yolt, we want to empower users to be smart with their money and help them find ways of balancing spending and saving, even amid the challenging times we find ourselves in. We are currently testing a new iteration of our app to do just that.”
