Corona is changing shopping behavior: How the pandemic is affecting everyday life
Created: 05/04/2022, 18:43
By: Fee Halberstadt
The Cologne trade research institute EHI has noticed a change in shopping behavior: Among other things, more and more people are paying with the card.
And other shopping aspects are also new.
Cologne – Cash is playing an increasingly minor role when shopping in Germany as a result of the pandemic.
Last year, 38.5 percent of sales in stationary retail were paid in cash, reported the Cologne retail research institute EHI in a study published on Tuesday (May 3).
Before the corona pandemic - in 2019 - it was 46.5 percent.
One of the recommendations for behavior during the pandemic was contactless payment.
Customers are increasingly using cards instead of cash when paying.
As a result, the share of sales from card payments in stationary retail rose from 50.5 percent in 2019 to 58.8 percent last year.
The most popular was the Girocard, formerly an EC card.
More than 42 percent of stationary retail sales were paid for with it.
That is 2.3 percent more than in the previous year.
As a result of the corona pandemic, people are paying more with the card than with cash, among other things.
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
Changed shopping behavior due to Corona - card payments are increasing
Overall, the giro card generated sales of 182.4 billion euros in stationary retail, as the EHI writes on its website.
Credit cards were also used more frequently.
Despite everything, Germans still prefer to pay with cash – especially small amounts.
In view of the current development towards card payments, consumer advocates are calling for cash payments to be enshrined in law.
"Legislators must ensure that cash is still accepted in retail and that consumers have easy access to it," said Dorothea Mohn from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, according to a report by handelsblatt.com.
After all, the majority of people want to continue to be able to pay in cash in the future.
Shopping in the corona pandemic: browse online, buy offline
According to the EHI, the pandemic not only changed payment behavior, but also shopping behavior.
"Due to the contact restrictions, the trend was to visit the trade significantly less, but then to buy considerably more and at the same time to make a significant proportion of purchases outside of daily needs online," reported the researchers.
Online shopping is booming, even if there are repeated concerns about possible data abuse, consumers are happy to order things directly to their homes.
According to the retail experts, the number of purchases shrank from 20 billion to 16.6 billion within two years.
The average invoice amount, on the other hand, increased by 16 percent to EUR 25.90.
Since the extensive relaxation of the corona virus, however, consumers have been shopping more frequently in brick-and-mortar stores again.
With one difference: You inquire online about offers and promotions in advance.
This is shown by a new consumption study by the Swiss prospectus app Profital.
This not only applies to food, but also to furniture and electronics.
(fh/dpa)
