Debit Card Expenditure
Where can I find it?
In the Expenditure folder.
How often is the data recorded? (granularity)
The data is captured in monthly granularity, ie there is a monthly total for each metric, meaning trends can be tracked from one month to the next, eg June 2024 versus May 2024, or comparisons made between monthly periods, eg June 2024 versus June 2023, or July-August 2024 versus July-August 2023.
How often is the tracker updated?
The tracker is updated every month with the previous month’s figures and all historic months. This usually comes in around the 13th, eg July data will usually be available from August 13th onwards. As stated above, all data is updated monthly, therefore please bear in mind historic data may be revised.
What is the source of data?
The data is provided by a third party provider called Beauclair, who provide debit card transaction analytics to organisations looking to understand their retail areas. Beauclair’s data is based on a sample of around 7% of all debit card transactions. This is multiplied up to represent all debit card sales. Debit card spend currently accounts for approximately 68% of spend (the other sources being cash, credit card, and vouchers).
What does the data tell me?
The data shows the monthly value and quantity of retail sales, consumers and transactions in the featured Devon and Somerset retail centres, in total and by product/service category. The eight retail centres of focus are Dartmoor*, East Somerset, English Riviera, Exeter, Exmoor*, North Devon Coast, Plymouth, Taunton.
*Note: the Exmoor area includes the wider area of influence beyond the National Park boundary. The Dartmoor area is specifically the National Park boundary.
Metrics
Beauclair’s data covers Expenditure in total and by category (value in £), Average Spend per Customer (value in £), Average Transaction Value (value in £) and Number of customers (volume). Each of the metrics is defined as follows:
Tracker Metric |
Definition |
| Sales: | Total sales for area or region selected |
| Customers: | Number of customers active in area or region selected |
| Average Transaction Value: | Average derived by dividing total value of sales by total number of transactions |
| Average Spend Per Customer: | Average derived by dividing total value of sales by total number of active customers |
| Tourism: | Tourism category includes transactions relating to hotels, airlines, holidays. |
| Food & Drink: | Includes includes Alcoholic Beverages, Cafes and Coffee Shops, Confectionery, Fast Food Chains, Food Delivery Services, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Pubs and Bars, Restaurants. |
| Entertainment: | Includes: Attractions and Experiences, Entertainment – Other, Gambling, Live Shows and Events, Music & Video Streaming, Sports Equipment & Clubs, Toys and Gaming |
| Consumer Services: | Includes Adult, Delivery Services, Florists, Other - Consumer Services, Photography and Printing, Software |
| Fashion: | Includes Baby and Childrenswear, Bags and Accessories, Jewellery and Watches, Lingerie, Menswear, Shoes, Sportswear, Unisex, Womenswear |
| General Retail: | Includes Books and Stationery, Cards and Gifts, Department Stores, Digital Marketplace, Discount Retailers, Electronics and Appliances, Other - General Retail, Pets |
| Grocery: | Includes Corner Shops and Newsagents, Grocery Delivery, Specialist Grocery, Supermarkets, Wholesalers |
| Health & Beauty: | Includes Beauty Products, Beauty Salons and Spas, Gyms and Fitness, Health and Nutrition, Healthcare Providers, Opticians |
| Household: | Includes DIY and Interior Design, Furniture, Garden, Household Products |
| Transport: | Includes Parking, Petrol, Vehicle Rentals, Transportation |
Important things to remember about this data…
This data is for all consumers, not just visitors. So it includes residents spending money in each area. The data does not cover all expenditure in all of Devon & Somerset, only debit card expenditure in the eight defined areas. Also, the data covers all categories of expenditure, ie some where visitors contribute significantly (tourism, entertainment, food & drink) and others where the contribution is less significant (eg grocery, health & beauty, etc). It’s important to use this data to look at trends when comparing different areas and not think of the values as absolute totals. This data does not include debit card spend by international visitors.
What can I filter on?
Date: the default period is the past 12 months; you can select from the preset options or your own using Custom. Compare different time periods by using Add Comparison.
County: select Devon or Somerset. Compare counties by using Add Comparison (being careful to select the same time period). It’s important to note that you are not comparing absolute values of spend in each county in this instance, but it is interesting to compare if the trends (the ups and downs in the graph) correlate or differ.
Area: the map here shows how the areas have been defined. Use Add Comparison to compare trends between areas.
Are there other trackers that have similar data?
Food & Beverage: this shows monthly trends in average spend based on a sample of tourism-oriented food and beverage businesses contributing to the data hub.