UK retail: transactions increase by 60% after the lockdown


A lot of businesses have re-opened their doors. What does this imply for the UK retail sector? Will it be able to recover from its losses? A study conducted by a financial firm sheds light on the matter.

The data collected is a representative of transactions processed by cards, whether in-store or online. It showed that by last week, as lockdown restrictions continued to ease, an additional 60% of consumers had started trading. In comparison to the beginning of June, just before shops reopened, this figure demonstrates a growth of 12% in active customers.

Since more businesses are operational now, the study also revealed an 8% increase in the total number of financial transactions compared to the week commencing 7th June. It seems as if customers are taking advantage of their first opportunity to stock up on non-essential items that they had been missing during the lockdown.

Moreover, 10% more contactless transactions have been processed. At the outbreak of the pandemic, the UK increased the limit for these electronic payments to £45 to help contain the spread of the virus. The study shows that almost 40,700,000 such settlements above the previous limit of £30n has been processed. This equals to a total value of over roughly £1.4 billion.


Retail transactions have increased

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