Wiganers spent big on return to pubs

A survey of card machine usage placed the borough in the top 20 locations across the country for alcohol spending the week watering holes welcomed customers back to enjoy outdoor table service after months of being shut due to lockdown.

Wigan had the 17th highest spend per customer in the figures amassed by payment provider Dojo

Residents flocked to the borough’s beer gardens and to the temporary arrangements many pubs across Wigan had made to be able to open once more.

And Dojo’s figures showed people were eager to get their wallets out, with spending levels on the first day of reopening nationwide four times higher across the hospitality sector than in a typical Monday’s trading.

Jon Knott, head of customer insights at Dojo, said: “After over a year of lockdowns and restrictions, it is no wonder that Brits are eager to get back to normality, and for some this includes going out for drinks at the local pub.

“The average spending will have been high due to a number of reasons, from Brits celebrating their freedom to wanting to support their local businesses.

“As pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating areas are now permitted to open with outdoor service, customers have been flocking back.

“Hospitality has taken a big hit during lockdown and it’s great to now see restrictions slowly lift.”

Dojo came up with its insight into customer spending habits by looking at its anonymised merchant transaction data from its card machines between April 12 and 18.

Wigan is one of three places in the North West to make the national top 20, with Lancaster coming in ninth with an average spend of £21.30 per customer and drinkers in Chester racking up an average bill of £18.19 per head to come in 18th.

The highest spending in the firm’s machine network was in Portsmouth, which had a massive average spend of £40.02 per customer.

The opening day’s business was between 10 and 20 per cent higher than trading on a typical August day, Dojo said.

Find out more about the data at https://dojo.tech/

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