Irish retailers suffered this November as shoppers chose to avoid the hectic high street in favour of online bargains on Black Friday.
According to Visa's Irish Consumer Spending Index, face-to-face spending was down -4.3% year-on-year which marked the first reduction since August 2017 and the sharpest decrease since the series began in September 2014.
In contrast, there was a rise in the rate of eCommerce spending in November.
"The annual Black Friday sales failed to pull Irish consumers to the high street, with spending growth focused online," said Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager, Visa.
This is cause for concern for bricks and mortar retailers in the run-up to Christmas, with only a short window to encourage shoppers back into their stores during the crucial festive period.
Andrew Harker, Associate Director at IHS Markit who produced the Index, said: "The Black Friday period looks to have been more of an online phenomenon in Ireland this year, with waning confidence among consumers leading them to search out discounts online as opposed to heading out to the high street.
"The pace of expansion in overall spending growth was modest, suggesting a lack of momentum heading into the crucial Christmas period."
