Consumer spending behavior data overview

SafeGraph and Domo teamed up to build the Consumer Spending Data Explorer, updated monthly to show trends in spending by place, brand, region, and business category. See how spending behavior is changing month to month and year over year with POI-specific transaction data.

Each graph and map is interactive and filterable, and the entire dashboard will dynamically update based on your selections. Get started now to explore how the economy is impacting spending at the brand, category, metro-area, state, or individual POI level. Combine filters for an even more customized, granular analysis.

How has consumer spending changed in the last year?

Comparing consumer spending year over year is important to see the larger economic picture. While monthly changes are ideal for staying on top of the latest trends, analyzing spend during this month last year compared to this month in the current year can highlight changes in seasonality or other expected consumer behavior. We show the total spend for each of the last three months in both 2022 and 2021 to compare how consumer spending has changed over the past year.

Which business categories are seeing the biggest change in consumer spending from month to month?

To understand how the economy is impacting different industries, we look at the dollar amount change in spending month over month at all POIs in each NAICS top category. 

Which brands are seeing the biggest change in consumer spending from month to month?

We can see how specific brands are performing month to month based on consumer transaction data at each of their store locations. Using the SafeGraph brands column, we aggregate the monthly change in consumer spending at each brand location to see which brands are impacted the most by economic changes.

Which metro areas are seeing the biggest change in consumer spending from month to month?

As an economy changes, regions can fare differently based on what industries are located there, how the population is behaving, and many other factors. To see how the economy is impacting specific metro areas in the US, we compare dollar amount change in consumer spending at all POIs in each US Census metropolitan area. 

Which states are seeing the biggest change in consumer spending from month to month?

Exploring different levels of geographic granularity is also key for understanding changing consumer spending behavior and the impact of the larger economy. Aggregating percent change in spend for all POIs in each state, we map the US and symbolize each state by percent change in consumer transactions month over month.

How is consumer spending behavior changing at specific store locations?

While aggregating spending behavior at category, brand, and geographic levels is critical to understand macroeconomic trends, looking at what is specifically happening at each individual store location is also important to truly know what is going on. We include the SafeGraph Spend data itself that is used to feed each of the visualizations included in the dashboard to enable analysis by custom granularity and provide transparency on our methodology.

Methodology

In order to exclude potential outliers in the above views, we excluded POI spending records if they met one or more of the following criteria:

1. If the current month or prior month was more than three standard deviations from the mean for that POI
2. If the spend for current month or prior month was less than $50 dollars
3. If the total percentage change in spend month over month was more than 5,000%