According to the latest Visa consumer spending index, there was a 6.5% increase in online spending in August, while face-to-face in-store spending declined by 2.6%. This would suggest that there is a continuation in the trend of consumers moving away from physical stores tied in with the growth of ecommerce. Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa, said that UK consumer spending was on course for its weakest year since 2013, commenting, “we are wary about taking this as a sign that the household squeeze is easing given the clear slowdown in spending during the preceding three months.”