We have been quite busy in the first three months of this year. Especially the cinema, the catering industry, amusement parks and holidays in our own country are popular. Consumers are still catching up compared to the same period last year, according to figures from ICS Creditcard Facts.
For example, the number of credit card transactions in the entertainment industry increased by 32 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago. In addition, physical shopping is gaining ground from online shopping.
Since the reopening of shops, restaurants, cinemas and amusement parks last January and the expiry of the corona measures, there has been a catch-up. Judging by the number of credit card payments, we are eating out more often again. The number of home delivery transactions actually decreased.
There has also been a significant increase in a number of categories compared to the period before the corona pandemic. Transactions in the entertainment (+17 percent) and food and beverage (+12 percent) categories were significantly higher than in the first quarter of 2019. Physical shopping is gaining ground (4 percent) compared to online shopping.
‘We are increasingly using our credit card again’
While the ratio of online shopping to out-of-home shopping was still 63 to 37 percent in the first quarter of 2022, it has shifted to 59 to 41 percent a year later. Consumers therefore seem to be slowly returning to the shopping streets.
In physical stores, the number of purchases in the music and books (+50 percent) and electronics (+41 percent) categories was much higher in the first quarter than in the same period a year ago.
“We used our credit card more and more in the previous quarter,” says David Compier of ICS. “The total number of transactions increased by 13 percent during this period, especially in brick-and-mortar stores. Although inflation rose sharply in the course of last year, total spending in the first quarter was no less than 17 percent higher than in the same period. year ago.”
