Victorians get the spending bit between the teeth on Melbourne Cup Day
Bars, pubs, and restaurants clean-up bigger than the bookies
Not surprisingly ATMs across Victoria were kept busier than a trackside bookie on Melbourne Cup Day, but it wasn’t all about the betting.
New merchant terminal data from the Commonwealth Bank Victoria reveals restaurants, bars and pubs were the big winners on the day whipping up huge growth in spending.
According to the data, spending at bars and pubs soared 225 per cent on Tuesday in comparison to the same day last week while restaurants enjoyed a 74 percent spike in spending.
Interestingly for restaurants, the recorded spending also represented a 196 per cent uplift when compared with a typical Tuesday during the most recent lockdown period.
But it wasn’t all about the Melbourne Cup.
We all know Victorians like to dress well, have a keen eye for a nice piece of jewellery and don’t mind the odd accessory.
And sure enough, and very true to form, spending at jewellery stores across the state soared 680 percent on Monday in comparison to the Monday prior, while clothing retailers and women’s accessory stores enjoyed a massive 627 percent and 438 percent spike in spending, respectively, when compared to Monday last week.
Commonwealth Bank’s Victorian general manager Small Business Sales Service, Sara Sutton, said it was pleasing to see Victorians back out in force in the community and spending money at many small businesses across the state, including bars, pubs, restaurants, and clothing retailers – to name but a few.
“It is clear the state has well and truly emerged from lockdown. Victorians are happy to get back out in the community, celebrate their freedom and enjoy some well-deserved spending at both big and small businesses across the state,” she said.
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
