Online shopping results in less panic buying


According to a report from a financial institution, panic buying is starting to decrease and this might be a result of online shopping. The firm released some figures related to consumer behaviour.

The company is an online bank holding 1.25 million UK account holders. According to its statistics, two weekends ago, transactions in supermarkets peaked. However, since then, the numbers have been falling. The institution advanced that when payments in stores were high, an increase of 15% was experienced in “comparison to pre-virus levels” but “over the weekend of 21-22 March transaction volumes fell back to levels seen before the crisis”.

The data shows how quickly the UK is turning to e-commerce services in times of need. In fact, on the 24th of March, operations processed on the Web surpassed all other forms of spending. This is the first time that this has happened. Online settlements conducted by the bank’s customers usually make up less than a third of the total number. However, on the eve of the government lockdown, e-payments reached 40.4% and after the 24th of March, it increased to 51.5%.

Another significant point demonstrated in the report shows how people went in voluntary lockdown before the UK government decided to implement this measure. Sales in pubs and restaurants were decreased by 40% in the week before most were closed.


More people are choosing to buy online

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