Savvy Irish consumers prioritise spending where prices stay the same, suggests new data from Revolut

The latest monthly consumer spending report by Revolut, the global financial super app, reveals that the average consumer in Ireland is spending 13.1% more, year on year.

However, Revolut data suggests that many people are prioritising shopping and activities where prices have stayed the same over the past year. Many products and services that haven’t seen average customer spend increase, or by very little, have seen the number of customers increase. Likewise, products and services that have seen average customer spending increase have seen the number of customers fall.

In travel, the average customer purchasing a cruise is spending 18.9% more, year on year, yet the number of customers buying cruises has only increased by 2.2%. In contrast, the number of consumers spending on air travel has increased by 23%, year on year, as the average customer is only spending 3% more. Furthermore, the average consumer is spending the same amount on passenger railways, suggesting that prices have stayed the same, year on year, yet the number of customers has increased by 70%.

Similarly, the average customer spend on buses stayed the same, but the number of customers increased by 6.3%, year on year, and the average customer spend on car rental dipped by 18.7%, but saw the number of customers increase by 65.4%.

Since the end of lockdown, Revolut data has consistently shown the trend of consumers prioritising their spending on activities and experiences. However, the latest Revolut data suggests that consumers in Ireland are being very savvy when it comes to this. The average consumer is spending 12% more on golf courses, suggesting that prices have increased, yet the number of customers has fallen by 7.4%, year on year.

However, average consumer spending on amusement parks, cinema tickets, spas, and gyms, has seen very little to no change, which suggests that stable prices could be part of the reason for the increase in number of customers by 13.4%, 75.5%, 28.3%, and 23.8%, year on year.

In shopping, the number of customers at sporting goods stores decreased by 12.1% as the average customer is spending 13.1% more, suggesting that prices have increased significantly. However, the average customer at a florist is paying the same amount, year on year, but florists have seen the number of customers increase by 9%, and average customer spending at antique shops is down by 5.1%, but they’ve seen the number of customers rocket up by 53.8%.

There is a clear outlier in the Revolut data. Despite an increase in prices, department stores could be having a revival. These stores often aim to make shopping more experiential, which, for the post-lockdown consumer, could explain why the number of customers has increased by 23.3%, year on year, even though the average customer is spending 10.2% more.