The pandemic has not brought a lasting revolution in online shopping, estimate the authors of the latest “Economic Weekly” of the Polish Economic Institute (PIE). At the end of Q3 last year the share of online purchases (expenses paid with payment cards in online channels) in the total consumption was lower in most of the surveyed countries than in the pandemic summit, and in Poland this share was 0.3 percentage points lower than at the peak of the pandemic.
Richer economies returned to pre-pandemic trends faster. Also at the sector level, the highest peak increases in shares were achieved by those industries that had shown a strong upward trend prior to the pandemic. Persistent changes above the trend were recorded in electronics, clothing stores, restaurants and bars. these provide another argument for the thesis that during the pandemic there was a rapid and clear rebound in the e-commerce sector, but the changes were not sustained to a large extent, according to the weekly.
PIE, citing research by analysts from Mastercard, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Harvard Business School, reported that the share of online shopping in Poland was 0.2 percentage points. below the level that could be expected given pre-pandemic trends.
As pointed out by the Institute, “most of the increases at the global level were temporary and weaker as pandemic restrictions were lifted.”
Although at the peak the share of online spending was 4.3 percentage points higher for the sample of countries than the pre-pandemic average, already in September 2021 it was only 0.3 percentage points higher.
Increases were highest in countries that already showed a strong trend of e-commerce development prior to the pandemic, PIE reported.
Source: ISBnews
