Given the travails of the high street and the number of retailers falling by the wayside on a monthly basis it’s tempting to think that UK consumers aren’t buying anything at all.
However consumer spending - excluding fuel and measured in pounds, shillings and pence - has been growing by an average of 4.5% each month from January to October according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures show that spending on household goods has risen by 6% on average each month but spending on clothing, even including online sales, has been virtually flat all year.
Within household goods there was a clear spike in sales of sofas and big-screen TVs during the World Cup but sales of electrical goods in general seem to be in decline.
John Lewis’s recent decision to stop selling DVD players is testament to the success of platforms like Amazon and Netflix with streaming accounting for over three quarters of the £2.7bn UK ‘video’ market last year.
Furniture in general seems to be back in vogue according to the ONS data and retailers DFS (DFS) and SCS (SCS) have both seen the benefit in terms of increased sales.
However that doesn’t mean that we’re a nation of couch potatoes. Spending on going out and having a good time has been one of the strongest areas of the economy all year according to figures from Barclaycard.
Entertainment spending which includes films, festivals and gigs has been growing at a 10% clip almost every month as we move from splashing out on ‘stuff’ to broadening our ’experiences’.
Spending in pubs and restaurants has also been growing but at a much slower underlying rate and has mainly been driven by pubs and bars according to sector expert Coffer Peach.
Restaurants have seen underlying sales fall almost every month and the number of chains closing branches or voluntarily seeking liquidation shows how tough it is out there.
Lastly, despite the low level of interest rates and a dip in property prices, more of us are opting to renovate than move house.
According to the ONS figures, demand for hardware, paint and glass has soared with sales growing at a double-digit rate in five of the last six months, although you would hardly know it from Kingfisher’s (KGF) last set of results.
