Insights on Changing Consumer Spending

Growth in the Wholesale Club and Discount Store category was largely unchanged from the prior week. Wholesale Clubs grew 30% year-over-year and Discount Stores grew 48% year-over-year in the week ending May 31.

Spending in the Home Supply segment remained strong the week of May 31, growing 60% year-over-year, a 10% bump from the prior week. 

The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have created a meaningful divergence in the business prospects of Amazon and Walmart, with Amazon maintaining a large growth premium over its retail competitor.  In the week of May 31, spending at Amazon grew 83% year over year, well above the 12% year over year growth Walmart saw.  

The overall Restaurant category continued to improve during the week of May 31, with a year-over-year decline in spending of 23%, 600 basis points better than the prior week. The Fast Food sub-category grew 3% year over year, but the improvement was slower than the overall category, suggesting that sit down restaurant traffic is starting to pick up as cities have started easing restrictions.

The Air Travel segment remains impaired, with year over declines still above 70%. The lodging sector had been improving at a more rapid clip, but that improvement slowed during the week of May 31, with a year-over-year decline in spending hitting 31%, only 2% better than the prior week.  

Spending in the Drug Store and Pharmacy segment was unchanged from the prior week, showing a year over year gain of 3%. This segment has essentially returned to the growth profile it had prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.