Consumer card spending in furniture stores rose during March when compared to last year, says new data from Barclays.

According to the latest Barclays Consumer Spending Index, which includes both debit and credit cards, furniture store spending growth increased 1.8%, while transaction growth was down 1.5% against the same month last year.

Home improvement and DIY stores saw spending growth improve 0.9%, with transaction growth down 3.9%. Department stores saw spending growth decrease 3.2%, with transaction growth up by 0.7%. Discount stores saw a decrease of 3.1% in spend growth, while transaction growth was down 2.7%, and Garden centres experienced an increase of 13.4% in spend growth and a rise of 6.8% in transaction growth.

Consumer card spending grew just 0.5% year-on-year in March – lower than February’s 1.0 per cent growth and less than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 3.7%. The sunny weather boosted non-essential categories such as garden centres and food and drink specialist stores. However, in anticipation of rising bills and inflation on imported products, consumers are feeling less confident in their household finances and continue to find ways to cut back on essential costs.

UK consumers’ confidence in both household finances and ability to live within their means fell back in line with January’s figures following a spike in February, to 70% (down from 75 per cent) and 74% (down from 77 per cent) respectively. Nearly two fifths (37 per cent) of UK adults said they were trying to reduce their outgoings in March in anticipation of rising household bills, contributing to a -2.9 per cent decline in essential spending (in comparison to -1.0 per cent in February).

Karen Johnson, Head of Retail at Barclays, said: “Consumers are feeling the pressure of rising bills, alongside being mindful of the impact recent global events may have on their finances. In a bid to keep costs down, households are adopting more prudent budgeting, which has led to a resurgence of the ‘big weekly shop’.

“There are some welcome green shoots however, as the warmer weather and longer evenings encouraged consumers to invest time and money in gardening and DIY – a trend that looks set to continue in the run up to Easter.”