Cardlytics Spend Index: Sales of Books and Pet Products Lift High Street Spend

6 March 2018, LONDON – New data released today from Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), based on the spending insights of nearly 8 million bank customers, reveals that online spending with traditional high street retailers has grown 3% in the past year, outpacing the 1% growth in total spend across in-store and online.

Findings from Cardlytics’ Spend Index show that spending on online channels of established high street bookshops and pet stores rocketed in 2017, increasing by 24% and 30% respectively, compared to the previous year.

For bookshops, the online growth of 24% helped to cushion the decline of in-store performance, which saw a 1% decrease in total spend across all channels, when compared to 2016 figures. This pattern has continued into January this year when online book sales for established brands experienced growth of 66% against a 3% decline for in-store sales, compared to January 2017.

Among high street fashion retailers, combined in-store and online sales declined by 4% year-on-year in 2017. Although online sales outperformed in-store spend (3% growth vs 3% decline), the online growth rate slowed in 2017. In 2016, online had grown 7% year over year. However, in-store remains king for these brands, making up the majority (75%) of overall spend.

Sales at pure-play online fashion retailers grew 12% in 2017 compared to the previous year, a rate of growth which is four times that of traditional high street fashion retailers. The Cardlytics Spend Index also revealed that:

• Pure-play online fashion retailers made up the second strongest performing online-only category in 2017 after pet stores.
• Pure-play online department stores grew their sales by 3% compared to the year before and 17% since 2015.
• Sales at pure-play online electronics retailers grew by 5% year-on-year in 2017.

“The struggles of traditional high street retailers have been well-documented over the past year; however, our Spend Index shows that some well-established brands in specialist sectors are proving there’s an opportunity in the slowdown, successfully hedging the threat of Amazon,” said Peter Gleason, President of International Operations at Cardlytics. “The changes in the UK retail landscape, coupled with the continuous rise of online-only players, means that retailers will need to take a holistic look at their product offering, sales channels, store estate and marketing strategies to continue building loyalty among customers.”

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Notes to editors
The figures are based on the spending data of more than 7.8 million active accounts of UK bank consumers. Spend was tracked on a weekly basis.

About Cardlytics
Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) uses purchase intelligence to make marketing more relevant and measurable. We partner with more than 2,000 financial institutions, including Santander in the UK, to run their banking rewards programs that promote customer loyalty and deepen banking relationships. In turn, we have a secure view into where and when consumers are spending their money. We use these insights to help marketers identify, reach and influence likely buyers at scale, as well as measure the true sales impact of marketing campaigns. Headquartered in Atlanta, Cardlytics has offices in London, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Learn more at www.cardlytics.com.

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