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Holiday shoppers not afraid to buy as Halloween leads strong October spending

A Friday Halloween spurred early holiday spending; leisure spending growth is up 4.6 percent; credit and debit spending show healthy increases over September.

November 13, 2014

This year, holiday shoppers are showing they are not spooked by spending, as a Friday Halloween helped boost spending growth in October. While a weekend of trick-or-treating and Halloween parties helped contribute to the 3.8-percent spending growth, a healthy uptick from September's growth of 3.1 percent, early holiday shopping also spurred the increase, according to the monthly SpendTrend report from payment technology and services solution provider First Data Corp.

The First Data SpendTrend analysis looked at the period Oct. 1-31, 2014, compared to Oct. 2 through Nov. 1, 2013. SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly 4 million merchant locations serviced by First Data in the U.S.

The leisure category saw a strong increase from September, with growth of 4.6 percent, driven by strong recreational activities and amusement park sales. Late-season amusement park Halloween events likely drove that increase. Spending growth at food and beverage stores and foodservice and drinking places was 4.9 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

Spending growth for all card types (credit, PIN and SIG debit) experienced a healthy increase in October. Dollar volume growth of 5.5 percent on credit outperformed both SIG and PIN debit growth of 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. The growth in credit was supported by strong showings in categories such as hotels, where credit is the preferred spending method. The growth in PIN and SIG debit was driven by stronger spending in categories such as food and beverage stores and foodservice and drinking places.

From a regional perspective, dollar volume growth was strong across the U.S., with the exception of the Mid-Atlantic region. The Southwest region saw spending growth of 5.4 percent, an impressive gain from September's growth of 3.0 percent. The Midwest also enjoyed healthy spending growth at 4.7 percent as the pace of employment and new home sales have improved in this region.

October's average ticket growth remained positive at 0.7 percent, but slipped slightly again versus September's growth of 1.0 percent. Overall average ticket in October remained moderate due to the drop in gasoline prices and retailers slashing prices ahead of the holidays.

"We're off and running with a strong start to the holiday shopping season as this year, consumers are showing confidence in their early spending," said Krish Mantripragada, SVP of information and analytics solutions for First Data, in a statement. "This confidence, which is buoyed by a lower unemployment rate, made October, 2014 a robust spending month."

Note:  All transactions are same-store growth.