Consumers up spending in Dec '17, as one shopper swipes 1160 times

07 February 2018 | Economic factors

South Africans spent more and bought more over the December 2017 holiday period than over December 2016, according to data compiled by BankservAfrica.

BankservAfrica, Africa’s largest automated payments clearing house, recorded the highest number of swipes by an individual in the period 1 - 30 December 2017 as 1 160, and the highest valued transaction by an individual at R5m.

"The main purchases recorded over the period were at grocery stores and supermarkets followed by service stations, eating places and restaurants, family clothing stores, and convenience stores and speciality markets, indicating the greater spending tendency towards consumables," the group said in a media statement on Wednesday.

According to BankservAfrica's point of sale data, South Africans spent a total of R51.6bn in December 2017. This was R5.1bn more than the corresponding period in 2016.

FNB senior economic analyst Jason Muscat previously told Fin24 that November 2017 retail sales data had surprised market expectations with an 8.2% year-on-year increase, the strongest performance in five years.