Black Friday online rush as Covid-19 influences consumers
As the “Black Friday” cut-price offers kicked off, Swiss retailers expect online sales to be particularly good. The pandemic is affecting not only how people shop but also what they buy.
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In initial responses, online retailers say customers are rushing to take advantage of the offers.
For example, Digitec Galaxus, Switzerland’s biggest online retailer, says it got off to “a very good start” with the first products selling out shortly after midnight. Company spokesman David Kübler told the AWP news agency that vacuum cleaners and coffee machines were selling like “hot cakes”. Particularly popular this year are cell phones, computers and televisions, as well as all kinds of household articles and toys, he added.
The Brack.ch online shop also said Black Friday sales had started well, with consumer electronics and IT products the most popular items. Spokesman Daniel Rei said the company noticed significantly more visitors to its site during the night, but its servers withstood the high volume of traffic.
This was not the case for Coop subsidiary Interdiscount, whose site went down temporarily. Coop spokesperson Andrea Ruberti said it was assumed that this was because of a huge rush for Black Friday offers. The site is now up again.
Not surprisingly, first indications are that people are not rushing so much to the shops as in the past. For example, Swiss broadcaster RTS reports that on Friday in the western city of Lausanne the shopping streets were not packed, but rather like a Saturday. People are choosing to buy particularly in large quantities, it reports.
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Swiss Black Friday draws shoppers
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Black Friday appears to be meeting the expected consumer success in Switzerland this year, although not everyone agrees with it.
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Electronics and fashion goods dominated orders. Food accounted for just 2.8% of the total goods consumed (up from 1.8% in 2018), but the report’s authors expect orders to increase this year with people reluctant to go to supermarkets in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Online shoppers predominantly favoured Swiss products, spending CHF8.3 billion in domestic…
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Coronavirus lockdown has changed Swiss consumer habits as well as reduced the use of cash and cash machines, according to a survey.
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