Late-night spend up, but pre-loading “now part of the culture”

The average spend on a night out rose 13.8% over the past year, according to the latest Deltic Night Index.

The figures, based on a survey of 2,200 people between November and January, shows the average spend during the quarter was £59.49. The data shows that the 31-45-year-old bracket spend the most – at £67.18, while 18-21-year-olds spend the least - £52.31.

Breaking down the spend, there was a 26.6% hike in sped on pre-drinks, 25% more on transport, 30.5% on entry fee and 19.4% more on drinks in venue but 9.1% less on food.

Jason Thorndycroft, operations director of The Deltic Group, which produces the index, told MCA that the spending trends mirrored wider shifts in the market.

He said: “Pre-loading is something that is a part of the culture now and that we have had to adapt to. It affects us less in the late-night business than it does pubs and bars and as a result of that, over the past few years, you have seen more of those businesses moving into late-night, which they’re not really set up to do.

“There’s been over-supply of food in general across the market but in late-night it’s become more about the entertainment and overall party element. It’s not a huge surprise to see food spend drop. It’s a very small part of our mix.”

The index shows that 58% of Brits go on a night out at least once a week, rising to 73.3% among 18-21 year olds and 63.8% of 26 – 30 year olds

The pub continues to be the most popular late-night destination, with 33.9% of respondents selecting this as the type of late night leisure they spend the most money on each month. However, this was down from 35.8% in the same period last year.

The report shows a mixed picture on the use of social media with 42% saying that seeing other people post about their night out on social media makes them want to go on a night out. Among 18 – 30 year olds this went up to 57%. However, 43.1% said that they make an effort not to use their phone on a night out, and 50.8% admitted that they hate it when friends use their phone a lot on a night out

Overall, 41.7% said they used Facebook when planning a night out, and 37.1% said they use it during a night out. This goes up to 50.4% and 44.2% respectively among 18 – 30 year olds. After Facebook, Snapchat proved more popular than Instagram for both people planning a night out and during a night out – with 21.0% saying they use Snapchat, and only 17.1% using Instagram

The 18 – 21 year olds seem to be the early adopters of some of the more technical apps – 14.4% use payment apps when planning a night out, and 14.2% use food delivery apps, compared to just 8.2% and 8.0% overall. The figures are similar for during a night out

Almost half (49.2%) of 18 – 21 year olds felt that apps like Uber and Apple Pay make it easier to go on a night out, while 29.5% said it encouraged them to go on a night out more often

Thorndycroft said: “We see people in our venues enjoying their night out and the last thing they are thinking about is checking their updates. We do work hard on those Instagrammable moments because that’s something people can take away. Where social media does come in is planning and them shouting about it afterwards.

“We have a social media team who watch what’s going on in the market. It’s evolving daily and we need to stay on top of it and listen to our customers and our technical team and move on the latets trends.”

On discounting, Thorndycroft said: “Pricing is always a challenge, especially around the regions but we try as much as possible to avoid discounting around our key occasions. We do some around early entry, happy hours but on our core occasions – post 11pm, Saturdays, there’s little discounting.

“We are able to offset the need to discount by offering content for the evening, which pubs and casual dining can’t compete.”

On Deltic’s plans for this year, Thorndycroft said: “The investment plan is maturing and that is freeing up some money for us to look at acquisitions, whether that’s single or company acquisitions.”

Commenting on the report, Deltic chief executive, Peter Marks, said: “This is now our sixth Deltic Night Index and it has proved once again what we know to be true. People of all ages still love going out. This quarter, consumers spent an average of £59.49, an increase of 13.5% from the same period last year. This is made up of 26.6% more on pre-drinks, 25.0% more on transport, 30.5% more on entry fees, and 19.4% more on in-venue drinks, but 9.1% less on food.

“It goes without saying that what we’re not seeing is the picture that the media is painting – the idea that there is a step change in people’s attitudes towards “going out”, that millennials don’t like going out, that socialising is all online, and that the rest of us have outgrown it. This simply isn’t true. This quarter, (November 17 – January 18) 58% of Brits said that they go on a night out at least once a week, which goes up to a massive 73% among 18 – 21 year olds.

“In this report we’ve looked at some of the drivers behind this – in particular social media and the emergence of apps such as Uber and Apple Pay as well as at-home apps like Deliveroo. We found that actually, technology is working with us rather than against us: 15% of respondents said social media encourages them to buy more premium drinks, and 40.2% of us want to go out ourselves after (or 57% of 18 – 30 year olds) seeing a friend post about their night out on social media. Almost a third of respondents (31.2%) said that apps like Uber, Apple Pay and Yoti make it easier to go on a night out, and a quarter (23.7%) said it made them more willing to go out.

“The night time economy is estimated to be worth £66bn a year to the UK economy and employs 1.3m people* . Numerous studies have shown that a town or city with a vibrant night life help make it a more attractive place to live and work, helping draw talent into the area. It’s vital to the vivacity of our high streets and long may it continue.”