In the first six months of this year, residents made in-person purchases one third more often in Latvian restaurants and large shopping centers, while a significant increase can be observed on the Internet in the car rental segment, according to the card payment data of the bank “Citadele” in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022.
As the bank’s representatives inform, analyzing the trends of in-person purchases, it can be seen that residents have started visiting shopping centers more often, where the number of purchases has increased by 37%. A similar increase in the number of purchases was recorded in the entertainment sector (38%), as well as in restaurant visits (32%). Meanwhile, residents made purchases in face-to-face clothing stores about 20% more often than in the same period last year.
Summarizing the trends of internet purchases, car rental services and the payment of travel-related expenses have experienced the biggest breakthrough – the number of remote purchases in both categories has doubled in the first half of the year. According to the purchase data, it can be seen that residents plan their summer trips most often in May and June, when the largest volume of reservations and purchases is made.
Despite the lifting of trade restrictions, internet orders from various supermarket chains have grown by 61%, while citizens ordered clothes 34% more actively than last year. Also, residents more often choose to pay remotely at gas stations, where payments through apps are becoming more and more popular (42% increase), according to bank representatives.
“Customer transaction data clearly shows that the online services developed during the pandemic, such as ordering food or clothing online, are sufficiently firmly rooted in daily habits. This is evidenced by the growing number of online purchases, even despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions. On the other hand, the opposite trend can be observed with entertainment related purchases and restaurant visits – the emotions of receiving a quality service in person tend to be more important than home delivery or in front of a computer screen,” emphasizes Andris Lazdiņš, Head of Cards and Payments at “Citadeles”.
The decline in the volume of online purchases was experienced by such sectors as education (-3%), entertainment (-11%), healthcare (-11%), telecommunications (-9%), as well as various orders related to the automotive industry (-18%) , according to the bank.
2023-08-17 13:56:00
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