Data from the ISA show that in the last two days there has been an increase of more than 14% in the volume of expenses • Rami Levy for "Israel Today": "Customers who come to the branches buy more"
Israelis stock up before the third closure, which has led to an increase in purchases.
Data from the ISA (Automatic Banking Services, Director of the National Credit Card Payment System) show that during rush hours yesterday and today there were increases of more than 12% in credit card purchases during rush hours compared to last week.
The Israelis spent a total of more than NIS 1.05 billion between 10:00 and 18:00 yesterday (Thursday), compared to NIS 910 million in those hours last Thursday.
This is an increase of more than 14% in the volume of credit card expenses during rush hours.
The total transactions recorded this morning in credit cards between the hours of 09:00 and 12:00 is more than NIS 360 million.
Last Friday, the total amount in these hours is NIS 320 million.
This is an increase of 12.5%.
Supermarket load ahead of previous closure // Archive photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
Meanwhile, food chains are reporting a significant increase in pre-closure shopping.
Rami Levy, owner of Rami Levy Sycamore Marketing, told "Israel Today": "There is an increase of more than 35% in the movement of people and the baskets are bigger. The customers who come to the branches buy more. Despite this, there are no shortages, and we do not expect them to be."
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Yossi Shalev, VP of Trade and Marketing at Tiv Ta'am, also reports an increase in orders. He said, "Following the reports of the closure, we have felt very active from 08:00, which is different from a normal Thursday.
Since yesterday there has been a 15% increase in online shopping and a 30-25% increase yesterday.
This trend is expected to continue both in branches and online.
Director General of the Ministry of Health, yesterday: "The closure may last more than two weeks" // Photo: GPO
"However," Shalev stressed, "this is not a large crowd of people. People come in the same quantities, maybe a little more, but the purchases are much larger. We assume that profits in some departments will increase by 60-30% due to the closure."
Shalev also estimates that there will be no shortages in the industry.
"I think everyone is prepared," he noted.
"I do not see a situation of attack on storage products. In addition, it should be remembered that food chains are open during the closure - and there is everything."
