The bank shared how their account holders are spending differently during the week to Monday 16 March.
In Brief:
- Spending on holidays dropped 13 per cent with the top merchants for holidays like Airbnb, British Airways, Booking.com, easyJet and Ryanair seeing an 18 per cent decline in the average transaction value.
- Grocery shopping spiked. Starling reports “spending levels were akin to those we typically observe at Christmas”.
- Fast food and takeaway purchases had not jumped yet: Starling reported a 4 per cent fall for the category, and said it hadn’t seen a big uptick with merchants like Deliveroo and Just Eat.
What this means
Starling's data offers a barometer for the first wave of Covid-19 business fallout. The coming weeks will paint a clear picture of just how consumers are shifting and contracting their spending - and which sectors will benefit and suffer.
