Ferratum Group's Summer Barometer 2019 results are announced, marking the 10th consecutive successful survey. Over 22,000 households participated in the biannual survey which explored summer consumer spending behaviour across 17 countries. Data included summer activities, whether participants would make their purchases online or through traditional retail outlets and how does spending compare in different countries.
This year's results show that 28% of the respondents will spend more money during the summer holiday season, when compared to the same period last year, while 39% indicated they will spend as much as they did last summer.
Surprising results in countries' spending
Some countries have shifted dramatically when compared with previous years. For example, Norway held the top-spender position with the biggest amount of spending money (out of disposable household income) allocated in 2018 at 68%. However, this year's results found Norway on 10th place with only 36% of disposable household income used for the 2019 summer holiday.
"UK respondents report that they will have a drop in the amount of summer spending from their disposable household income this year, with only 39% of their budget allocated compared to 48.8% in 2018.
Brits are now looking to reign in their summer spending compared to last year, possibly due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and leaving the EU making people worry about the impact on European travel."
Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager
Cash continues to lose favour in 2019. The future is mobile!
85% of respondents in Sweden, Denmark and Norway would choose cards over cash, according to the survey results. However, this trend is not limited to Scandinavia, and an overall total of more than 60% of survey participants indicated that they prefer cards to cash this summer, up from just over 50% in 2018.
Mobile banking services also saw an upswing: over 80% of respondents from Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, UK, Poland and Brazil said they would use mobile banking during this period. The survey shows more and more markets going digital for their banking.
Online and retail shopping at a standoff
Over 35% of respondents from the UK, Spain and the Netherlands said they would be shopping online for products and services this summer, while Latvia and Finland will continue to stick with more traditional retail for their summer purchases.
"The UK continues to lead the way for online purchase this summer. Online shopping is huge in the UK, and Brits know how to utilise online facilities and shop around to get the best summer deals.
British shoppers are moving away from the traditional highstreet, taking advantage of mobile banking services, cashless payment systems and online deals to make the most of their summer budgets."
Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager
Top summer spending for 2019
Respondents from all 17 countries would spend the most money on the following three activities: domestic travel (15% of their budget), personal/family recreational activities (12%) and summer activities like beach-going, parties and eating at restaurants (12%).
The UK's survey respondents were the only participants to highly rate fashion in this survey, being the sole country to list summer clothing as a main source of spending during the summer period. Norway and Denmark earn the world-traveller award by being the only two countries to list travelling abroad as a top activity for summer spending.
"In the UK respondents continue to list summer clothing as their top summer spending activity. Brits are reported to spend a lot on clothes year round compared to their European neighbours, so this makes sense that it's reflected in the Barometer.
It's interesting that UK respondents have reported a slight increase on travelling abroad with 12% in 2019 compared to 9.8% in 2018. While on the whole our respondents are spending less, their travel budget is higher, as Brits are choosing to travel outside of the EU this summer."
Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager
How was Ferratum Group Summer Barometer 2019 conducted?
The survey was conducted by Ferratum Group who surveyed its active customers in 17 international countries via a web survey with a standardised questionnaire. Incomes are stated in local currencies, and relative summer consumption is calculated by the ratio of a family's monthly disposable income in each country. Disposable income was adjusted by each country, individual purchasing power parity is based on 2014 figures by The World Bank.
Over 22,000 households participated in the survey. Respondents were aged from 18 to over 61. 53% of participants were women. The average available net income of participating households was between €827-3934. The average household size among the respondents was 2.9 persons.
In addition to demographic factors, respondents were asked about their disposable monthly net income, how much money would be allocated for the summer holiday, what are the main activities this summer and if they are going to use services like Airbnb or online banking while travelling abroad.
All survey responses were anonymous.
ENDS
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Contacts:
Ferratum Group
Emmi Kyykkä
Business Support Manager for CEO
T: +41 79 940 6315
E: emmi.kyykka@ferratum.com
Ferratum UK Ltd.
Tony Gundersen
UK Country Manager
E: tony.gundersen@ferratum.co.uk