Spend entertainment increased by 11.3% last month, it shows, with pubs seeing a 33% growth in sales as England defeated Tunisia in their opening football match and a 9.5% boost across the month.
In total, consumer spending grew 5.1% year-on-year in June, maintaining the high level seen in May, says Barclaycard.
The company, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, also reports that non-essential spending grew 5.5%, its best performance since October 2016.
“Consumer spending maintained its strong growth in June for the second month in a row,” says Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard.
“As the warm weather continues and World Cup fever sets in, it’s clear many households are prioritising fun in the sun while making the most of the summer’s best experiences.
Barclaycard also reported a 9.7% increase in restaurant sales. However, the combination of football and unseasonably warm weather hasn’t necessarily proved popular for all restaurants, with customers seemingly shunning meals out because of the heat and to watch certain matches.
Earlier this month steakhouse brand Hawksmoor took to Twitter to encourage business during a lull in the World Cup and a drop in temperature by tweeting to its 51,000 followers: ‘Right then, no football, under 25 degrees and rain forecast. Restaurateurs ASSEMBLE!’
Restaurateur Stevie Parle tweeted a similar sentiment that implied football was keeping customers away from restaurants. He tweeted: ‘Right there’s no big game is there tonight so get yourself down your (my) local restaurant and give them some love (money) tonight.’