Beast from the East kept shoppers off the high street in March, shows research
The extreme weather conditions in March gave online expenditure a boost
The chill from the Beast from the East extended to the UK’s high streets last month, with consumer spending growth slowing as shoppers opted to stay at home because of the freezing weather.
According to the latest data from Barclaycard, spending growth fell to 2 per cent in March, down from 3.8 per cent growth in February, which is the lowest level of growth recorded since April 2016.
Read more Construction suffers biggest drop in activity since Brexit vote A third of consumers told Barclaycard the cold weather was the reason they spent less on the high street, and was also the explanation for a 11.7 per cent jump in online expenditure over the month as Britons chose instead to shop from home.
The weather hit petrol spending, which declined 1.8 per cent year-on-year, and also hurt spending in restaurants and pubs, where growth dipped compared with February.
The biggest impact was seen in the garden cent..