Products, Services for Staying at Home See Increased Card Spend Volume, Report Finds

Products and services like streaming services, gaming, restaurant delivery and groceries have seen significant year-over-year growth in card spend as consumer habits shift towards staying home due to COVID-19, a new report from Cardlytics released in May has found.

While overall weekly spend is down year-over-year over 20 percent and peaked at a 36.4 percent decline in mid-March, certain verticals primarily serving consumers at home have seen increases in card spending. Further, ecommerce has grown in overall spend year-over-year, the report found.

Streaming services experienced 24 percent higher card spend since March, and video gaming reversed a downward trend present at the beginning of 2020 with a 33 percent spend increase since U.S. stay-at-home orders began.  Restaurant delivery weekly card spend has increased 65 percent year-over-year; Cardlytics noted its increases were rapid as consumers pivoted from eating out to ordering in. Groceries, on the other hand, also experienced a weekly year-over-year card spend growth of 27 percent. Online-only stores capitalized on a growing ecommerce trend for consumers, experiencing 34 percent growth year-over-year, the report notes.

Certain retail verticals saw increases on ecommerce channels. Mass retailers experienced a 106 percent increase in year-over-year card spend, office supply stores saw a 93 percent increase and pet stores saw a 41 percent increase. According to the report, card spent at grocery stores via an ecommerce channel have increased 146 percent year-over-year.

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