Report: Consumer spending makes a comeback in March

Atlanta Consumer spending made a comeback in March, according to the SpendTrend analysis report released by e-commerce and payment-processing company First Data for the full month of March 2010, compared with March 2009.

SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations.

Same-store dollar volume and transactions increased at their highest rate in two years, marking the first double-digit growth since first quarter 2008. Dollar volume growth was 11.5% (10.2% excluding gas stations) and transaction growth was up 10.1% (9.8% excluding gas stations), up from 8.4% and 6.9%, respectively, in February. Several key factors contributed to the growth including a 10.0% increase in tax refunds, stabilized unemployment and early Easter spending.

Retailers showed continued improvement with same-store dollar volume growth of 10.3%, compared with 8.0% in February. Conversely, dollar volume growth at general merchandise stores was 11.6%, compared with 13.0% in February. Consumers began to “trade up” instead of “trading down.”

Transaction growth increased across all industries for the second consecutive month. Higher same-store transaction growth in leisure and gas stations contributed significantly to the overall increase, the report said.