RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.—Consumers this year increased their credit and debit spending during the Thanksgiving shopping rush, according to two studies.
Comparing card usage this year to 2013, The Members Group found that credit spending increased 12.97%, and CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent found that debit spending increased 6.71%, from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.
The debit results covered debit activity at 20 different merchant types nationwide by members of credit unions that use CO-OP for transaction processing.
“This year CO-OP and Saylent have tracked debit card spending during four periods – Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, August back-to-school shopping and now Thanksgiving – and we have found increases in each case,” said Stan Hollen, CO-OP president and CEO. “As with back-to-school shopping, the increased number of transactions was key to the increase in total dollars spent.”
The year-over-year comparison was performed via CO-OP Revelation, an advanced analytics tool powered by Saylent, based in Franklin, Mass.
Other data from the CO-OP/Saylent analysis:
- Comparing 2013 to 2014, cosmetic stores saw the biggest increase in debit use, with a 108% increase in transactions and a 98% increase in spend.
- The following types of merchants also experienced strong growth compared to last year: family clothing stores, with a 27% increase in debit card transactions and a more than 21% increase in spend; and home furnishing retailers, with an 8% increase in debit card transactions and an increase in spend of more than 20%.
- Consumers increased their debit card transaction volume at pet stores by more than 13% and spending by more than 20%.
- The day with the largest increase in debit card spending compared to last year was Thanksgiving Day, with an increase of 14%--reflecting the broader retail trend of opening in the afternoon and evening on Thanksgiving.
From Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday, TMG found a 12.97% increase in credit spending for users who carry credit cards issued by TMG’s financial institution clients. TMG’s analysts attribute this to healthy growth in the credit card portfolios of TMG’s clients and the fact cardholders used their credit cards on average 1.35% more this year as compared to last year.
“Our issuing partners want to understand transaction volume trends, yet they are also interested in data that demonstrates an evolution in the way consumers are paying,” said Shazia Manus, CEO of TMG in Des Moines, Iowa. “Are they increasingly turning to digital channels, and when they are, which platforms are providing the best experience? These are just a few of the critical data points our credit union and community-based financial institution clients rely on as they develop new payment strategies for the future.”
Additional data from the TMG analysis:
- Electronic spending (shopping from online and mobile devices with a credit card) increased 24.7% year-over-year.
- Amazon led all other merchants in credit card spending. Cardholders carrying credit cards issued by TMG clients initiated 32.58% more transactions with Amazon this year compared to 2013.
- Of the three days analyzed (Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday), Black Friday was the biggest day for credit card spending, accounting for 42.03% of all credit card transactions. On average, the transacting cardholder also spent more on Black Friday ($147.63) compared to Cyber Monday ($131.45) and Thanksgiving ($111.54).
- Grocery stores and supermarket purchases comprised the greatest number of credit card transactions. This merchant category experienced a 21.83% increase over 2013 figures.
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