Harsh winter weather continued to subdue consumer spending growth in February.
First Data Corp., a global supplier of payment technology and services solutions, released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for Feb. 1-28, 2014, compared to Feb. 1- 28, 2013.
SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million U.S. merchant locations serviced by First Data.
Dollar volume growth remained positive at 2.4%, but marked a slight slowdown versus January’s 2.5% growth as severe winter weather lingered into February.
Spending growth did gain momentum near the end of the month as temperatures turned warmer and tax refunds increased, especially since refund volumes and values were slightly up versus last year.
Gas Station dollar volume growth of -6.6% remained a drag on the overall growth and fell significantly compared to January’s growth of -0.1% as the year-over-year gas price discount widened to the cheapest monthly national average in February since 2011.
Meanwhile, spending growth at Hotel, Travel and Food Services & Drinking Places remained healthy at 5.4%, 3.3% and 4.7% versus January’s growth of 5.4%, 2.3% and 3.3% and helped to support the overall growth.
Retail spending growth of -0.3% was up from January’s growth of -0.9%, but remained in the red as back-to-back snowstorms hit the Northeast and storms in the South forced store closures. Most retail sub-categories in February posted negative year-over-year growth.
Stores benefitted from the inclement weather early in the month as consumers sought out more winter supplies, but also saw strong sales at the end of the month as warmer weather spurred home improvement and spring-related sales.
Meanwhile, spending growth at non-store retailers marked the highest growth in a year as consumers shopped from home during severe weather.
Average ticket growth of 0.2% in February slipped slightly versus January’s growth of 0.4%. The growth continued to be depressed by Gas Stations, which saw average ticket growth fall to -5.6% versus January’s growth of -0.6%. Meanwhile, retail average ticket growth of 0.1% marched up compared to January’s growth of -0.4% as retailers curtailed aggressive discounting as winter inventories started to clear out and spring goods arrived. Most retail sub-categories saw stronger sequential average ticket growth versus January.
“Consumer spending growth was again unfavorably impacted by severe weather across the nation, which hindered shopping activity for most of the month,” said Krish Mantripragada, senior vice president, information and analytics solutions, First Data. “Credit card spending growth continues to be strong as consumer confidence remains pinned near post-recession highs, which has fueled consumers’ appetite for credit and should support more spending growth.”
February Dollar Volume Growth CHANGE
Credit +4.0%
Signature Debit +0.7%
PIN Debit +2.7%
Check –3.3%
Prepaid +2.5%
