Report finds spending increase in beauty spas ahead of children’s return to school

A new report has highlighted that there has been an increase in spending at beauty spas across the country, ahead of the return of back to school season.

This week sees the start of thousands of children returning to their classrooms after the summer break. In the weeks leading up to the start of the new school year, parents tend to enjoy treating their children to special days out - and a new study has discovered the most popular activities for this year.

Bank of Ireland’s latest Spending Pulse, which analyses debit and credit card spending across Ireland, recently focused on a study between August 5 and August 18. 

During those days, the level of spending in beauty spas - including hairdressers, makeup artists, nail beauticians and spa treatments - went up by a whopping 25%.

Meanwhile, the presence of rainy days - as well as the release of blockbusters such as Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters and Inside Out 2 - brought a rise in cinema audiences across August. During this two-week period, cinema spending spiked by 10%, compared to a similar time period last year.

The study also went on to find that families are still choosing to take part in sporty days out with their little ones, as spending in sports clubs - notably GAA, soccer and tennis - went up by 50%. Boat rentals increased by 23%, campsites and trailer parks rose by 14%, and amusement parks also went up by 9% during the same period.

Understandably, parents have also used these two weeks in August to get their children ready for school, as the levels of spending in family clothing stores saw an increase of 11%.

Speaking about the findings, Bank of Ireland’s Head of Customer Journeys & SME Markets, Jilly Clarkin, noted: “It’s a long summer for a lot of families and the struggle to constantly keep children entertained is real!”

She added: “It is not surprising to see spending in sports clubs and cinemas spike during August, and the general uptick in consumer outlay provided a welcome boost for businesses across Ireland.”

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