Money News
New research from Sainsbury's Credit Cards indicates that this summer, people are planning to spend an estimated £7.89 billion in the sales. Not surprisingly, given the ongoing credit crunch, the findings suggest this will be less than the amount spent last year. Indeed, around 20% anticipate spending less this year, some 63% intend to spend around the same and only 8% plan on spending more.
The research, which asked people about their intentions, found that 25.78 million people anticipate spending on average £305.90 on summer sale purchases. These may include everything from electrical goods to clothes and home-wares. A very small set, some 3% of adults (1.39 million people), anticipate spending over £800.
The Sainsbury's Finance figures suggest that around 42% of summer sale spending - some £3.29 billion - will be placed on credit cards. An estimated 11% of people spending money in this year's summer sales intends to put half or more on their credit cards.
Donald MacLeod, Head of Cards, Sainsbury's Finance said: "A growing number of credit cards now offer some sort of reward every time you use them but some of these have catches. For example, some put a limit on the financial value of their reward schemes and others can make it difficult to redeem your rewards or points. This helps explain why only around 36% of people who've collected rewards linked to their cards over the past 12 months have so far bothered to claim them."
MacLeod adds that if you're going to use a credit card in the summer sales, it pays to use one that gives you attractive rewards that are not only easy to collect but also to redeem so that you really are earning whilst you spend and getting a little back.
25 June 2008 © Moneyextra.com
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