Consumers shift towards home, health, personal enrichment purchases, Splitit finds

However, consumers are looking for responsible ways to manage their money on their own terms. Based upon an analysis of hundreds of thousands of global transactions from retailers from over 30 countries, Splitit found that consumers continued to purchase goods for their homes, health, and personal enrichment, while spending significantly less on luxury purchases. 

Splitit’s analysis looked at transactions during the period of 15 March 2020 to 10 April 2020 as compared to the previous twelve months. The data revealed an effort to conserve cash, with a 20% shift in payment mix towards credit card usage over debit card usage. Consumers are also opting for flexible spending options, with a 40% increase in the number of instalments selected at checkout. Other findings in behaviour changes show:

• Shoppers who use Splitit have been purchasing more goods for their homes, health, and personal enrichment, specifically in homewares, outdoors/sports, essential services, electronics, and health;
• Luxury retail, fashion and sports/outdoor activities have experienced a decrease in consumer spending;
• To conserve their cash, there has been a 20% shift in payment mix towards credit cards over debit cards;
• Splitit consumers, on average, are choosing to increase the length of their instalments. The average number of instalments grew to 7 months, from 5 months over the previous 12 months;
• Shoppers are adopting more budget conscious behaviours like taking advantage of promotions, leading to Average Order Value (AOV) decreasing slightly during the period from 15 March to 10 April.