"The data from the week of April 6 to 12 demonstrate a maintenance of the recent consumption trends of the Portuguese, standing out, in this Easter period, a stability mainly in physical purchases, in a context of restricted travel in national territory", he says the statement shared by SIBS with the indicators of electronic transactions on the Multibanco network and on the MB Way app. Even so, purchases in physical stores dropped 51% and online, they decreased 16% compared to the period before the first registered case of COVID-19, in the second week of March.
Most indicators remained constant compared to the previous week, with only a "slight decrease in online purchases and physical purchases", which dropped 3 points and 1 point, respectively, indicates the organization that manages the Multibanco network.
Even with the confinement within the municipality that was decreed in Easter week, the Portuguese maintained some purchasing patterns, with the sectors of Super & Hypermarkets, Small food distribution, Beverages & Tobacco, Farms and Drugstores representing 70% of the total shopping in physical stores. The average value per purchase also decreased slightly, reducing 2.4% in in-store purchases.
In online shopping, there was also a decrease in the average value, which dropped 3.2%, and despite having the greatest weight in the weight of purchases, they are 16% below the average recorded before the pandemic.
Already in an analysis by sectors, in online shopping SIBS indicates that it keeps the emphasis on Entertainment, Culture and Subscriptions, with an increase of 60% compared to the week before the pandemic. Comercio Alimentar & Retalh purchases increased 41%, while Restaurao, Food Delivery and Take Away rose 40%.
The use of MB Way, which has been promoted as a safer form of online payment and also in physical stores, since it eliminates contact with equipment, also continues to grow. In the last week it reinforced the weight in the total of purchases in Portugal.
"It should be noted that, in the week of April 6 to 12, the number of payments with MB WAY in online commerce again exceeded the average recorded before the pandemic and 2 more points compared to the previous week. Also in store purchases, transactions through of MB WAY increased 2 points in the week from March 30 to April 5, being now closer to reaching the average recorded before the first case of COVID-19 in Portugal ", says SIBS.
As expected, the drop in consumption by Portuguese abroad and foreigners in Portugal remains practically unchanged from the previous week, at levels of -68% and -85%, respectively, compared to the weekly average before the beginning of the COVID- crisis. 19.
Editor's Note: The news has been updated with more information. latest update 15h57