During the week of March 30th to April 5th, there was a significant increase in online purchases, approaching the levels seen before the first confirmed case of Covid-19, with this channel gaining increasing weight in the total number of purchases made in Portugal.
The data comes from SIBS, which, in its weekly update on the impact of the new coronavirus on the consumption habits of the Portuguese, on the economy and society in general, publishes a set of indicators of consumption trends relating to the last few weeks. In online shopping, the sectors that saw the greatest increase during this period were entertainment and culture, which registered a 64% increase, food and retail, with a 45% increase, as well as restaurants, food delivery and takeaway with a 52% increase, among others, such as pharmacies and parapharmacies, perfumery and cosmetics, games and toys, and home decor and household goods. These sectors accounted for one in two online purchases made by the Portuguese during this period, although it should be noted that online shopping shows a greater dispersion across different sectors of activity compared to physical shopping.
MB WAY has also been increasingly preferred by the Portuguese, both for online and in-store purchases. It is worth noting that, in the week of March 30 to April 5, the number of payments made with MB WAY in e-commerce exceeded the average recorded before the pandemic. Compared to the previous week, from March 23 to 29, there was an increase of 23 points.
In summary, the week of March 30 to April 5 saw an increase in most of the indicators presented, with the renewal of the state of emergency not causing significant changes in consumption patterns in Portugal. There was a 17 basis point increase in e-commerce purchases and a six basis point increase in transactions in physical stores, compared to the week of March 23 to 29, with the Portuguese favoring online shopping in various sectors.
Although there has been a slight recovery in transactions in Portugal, it should be noted that online purchases are still 13 points below the average recorded before the confirmation of the first case of Covid-19. In the week of March 30 to April 5, in-store transactions still show a drop of 50 basis points in the total number of purchases, compared to the average recorded before the start of the spread of the new coronavirus in Portugal.
Additionally, there was a slight increase in in-store commercial transactions compared to the previous week, accompanied by an increase in the average value per purchase, to the current 41,1 euros in the week between March 30 and April 5, 6% more than the average of the previous week and 18% more than the average recorded before the confirmation of cases in Portugal.
As in previous weeks, the weight of supermarkets and hypermarkets, pharmacies and parapharmacies remained stable, to which was added, in this weekly analysis, small food and beverage and tobacco distribution, categories that remain stable, with slight fluctuations in the last three weeks, representing more than two out of every three transactions carried out in physical stores by the Portuguese.
The average value of online purchases increased slightly in the week of March 30 to April 5, to 38,9 euros, compared to the average of 37,5 euros (+4%) recorded before the confirmation of cases in Portugal.
The drop in consumption by Portuguese people abroad and by foreigners in Portugal stabilized compared to the previous week, at levels of -65% and -85%, respectively, compared to the weekly average before the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
