5 killer stats to start your week

1. Household spending slumps

Consumer spending fell by 0.3% year on year in the second quarter, the biggest drop since the third quarter of 2013 and the latest evidence that cash-strapped consumers are less reluctant to spend.

Spending on household goods saw the biggest drop, while recreation and culture spending dropped for the first time in four years and clothing and footwear sales also fell (household goods: 3.4%, recreation and culture: 1.2%, clothing and footwear 0.5%).

Source: Visa

2. No progress in gender equality on company executive committees

There has been no progress on gender equality at exec level for companies in the FTSE 350. The percentage of female execs has stayed the same, while those with responsibility for P&L has also seen no shift. (16% of executives are female, 6% are women in P&L roles)

There are also more companies with no women on their executive committee.

Yet the research shows that profit margins at companies where at least 25% of exec roles are held by females are almost double those with no women.

Source: The Pipeline

3. UK smartphone shopping to overtake tablet spend

Spend via smartphones will outperform spend via tablets in 2018 as sales of tablets decline and the growing screen size on smartphones means shopping is easier.

By 2022, spend via smartphone is expected to account for 23.8% of all online expenditure, up from 15.1% in 2017.

Source: GlobalData

4. Shop price inflation looms

Shop prices in June edged closer to ending a four-year deflationary trend as depreciation of the pound and rising commodity prices push up prices in the shops.

While non-food is still in deflation, this has decelerated while food prices continue to increase. (non-food deflation: -1.4%, food inflation: 1.4%)

Source: BRC

5. Does TV sponsorship pay off?

According to the TV ad body Thinkbox, brands that sponsor TV shows will see improvements to brand health metrics mainly because of the strong positive affinity viewers have with their favourite programmes.

It found there was a 53% increase in ‘personality fit’ between viewers of a TV show and the sponsoring brand when compared to non-viewers. Viewers were also far more likely to recommend the sponsor.

Source: Thinkbox