‘Monday is the new Friday’: ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme has increased spending up to six-fold

Yolt, the smart-thinking money app, has revealed new data which demonstrates that the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme created a surge in eating out on Mondays, with users spending up to 6 times more at the start of the week, when compared to the weekend. Tuesdays and Wednesdays also saw an uptick in spending on food and drink as people took advantage of the government scheme, spending up to 3 times as much at the beginning of the week.  

Across the scheme, users spent on average 2.5 times as much during the beginning of the week than they did at the weekend, but Mondays were consistently the most popular day for claiming the discount.  

As well as a rise in the amount spent, Yolt’s data also found that, in August, the number of transactions related to eating out went up Monday-Wednesday. On average, users made up to 7 times more ‘eating out’ transactions when compared to the weekend.  

Pauline van Brakel, Chief Product Officer at Yolt, comments: “The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was put in place to stimulate consumer spending in the hospitality industry, and our user data demonstrates that people have been  supporting the initiative. However, most telling is that this uplift has not led to an increase in spending towards the end of the week, and the question remains: now the scheme has concluded, will restaurants be able to survive? The desire to enjoy eating out is still there, but consumers are naturally cautious of overspending and seem to be looking for ways to make savings. 

“At Yolt, we want to empower users to be smart with their money and help them find ways of balancing spending and saving, even amid the challenging times we find ourselves in. We are currently testing a new iteration of our app to do just that.”