Study: Overall spend continues to increase with small weekly gains

Consumers are opening their wallets for non-essential items.

That’s according to Cardlytics’ latest State of Spend Report, which is based on U.S. consumer spend. After non-essential spending dropped to a low of -75% year-over-year at the end of March, discretionary spend (in categories such as apparel) is climbing back up, down just -40.8% year-over-year the week of 5/28.

The report also found that Southern States are leading the retail recovery. Several states continue to outpace the Recovery Indicator national average, with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia topping the list with year-over-year spend decreases in the teens.

Cardlytics noted that consumers have been shopping fewer brands, both in-store and online, since the start of the pandemic (an average of 10.5 before COVID-19 and 7.6 during the outbreak), making it even more important for retailers to capture every sale in this competitive environment.

“Retailers who have been impacted during the shutdown need to ensure their customers don’t permanently form new brand allegiances,” the report stated.