For Immediate Release
Citi Australia
Citi Monthly Credit Card Index – November
HIGHLIGHTS
Rewards point redemption skyrockets, and consumers welcome Black Friday sales as they prepare for Christmas
Highlighted Findings:
- Spend for November is 9% higher than October. In the final week of November, cards spend increased 21% against the prior week, due to the Black Friday sales
- Rewards spend increased 51% as consumers used their rewards to help with present shopping
- Sports and hobby stores jumped 4 categories to capture the fourth highest share of spend, as consumers prepare for Christmas
"November has been our clearest sign yet that Australia is on its way out of the woods and ready to get back to 'spending as usual' again. It's also an indicator that the way Australians shop in the holiday season is fundamentally changed, with the Black Friday sales seeing record engagement. Covid-19 is partly the cause of this, as more people than ever are comfortable with online shopping," said Choong Yu Lum, Head of Credit Cards at Citi Australia.
Top 4 – spend by industry
| Category | % share of spend |
|---|---|
| 1. Supermarkets | 9.78% |
| 2. Household goods retailing | 7.92% |
| 3. Business services | 6.90% |
| 4. Sports and hobby stores | 5.68% |
"Supermarkets and household goods consistently rank first and second in terms of spend for our customers. This month however, we saw spend on the 'sports and hobby stores' category jump four places to rank fourth in terms of share of spend. This can be attributed to both the Black Friday Sales and Christmas period – with customers taking advantage of good prices to get organised and stock up on presents early.
"Travel and cruise lines retain last place (31st) when it comes to share of spend, sitting at 0.59%. This represents an 85% drop in share of spend when compared to similar period last year, where it was the 12th most popular spend category for November." Mr Lum added.
Top 3 – spend on rewards points
| Category | % share of spend |
|---|---|
| 1. E-Vouchers | 34.51% |
| 2. Gift Cards | 26.5% |
| 3. Select and Credit* | 10.72% |
| (*selecting to use rewards point for a credit card purchase) | |
"We saw a 51% increase in points redemption this November, compared to the previous month. This reflects that in the lead up to Christmas, many customers cash in their rewards to ease the holiday spending pinch. In particular, we saw a spike in customers redeeming gift cards, presumably to help with present shopping. All of our top three categories, gift cards, vouchers, and select and credit are all options that help make purchases more affordable," Mr Lum said.
State by State
"Across Australia, consumers dialled up their purchasing for the month of November. South Australia's spend patterns were most influenced by the Black Friday/ Cyber Weekend sales, with spend increasing 43% on the week of the sale period compared to the prior week. Most other states saw approximately a 20% increase in spending, with the exception of Tasmania where we only recorded a 12% increase," Mr Lum said.
What's next?
"We are seeing the strong levels of November spending continue into the first week of December. This indicates there is pent up demand in the Australian consumer base to make up for lost time by spending big at the shops. While some commentators claim that high levels of Black Friday spending mean we will see muted numbers in December, we are yet to see evidence of this in our figures. Additionally, with Covid-19 case numbers remaining low, we anticipate that spend on local travel will only increase, which will in turn bolster overall spending levels." Mr Lum concluded.