Even if online trading was the winner of the lockdown, stores can expect a rush when they reopen on Monday. Because a little more than half of Austrians (53 percent) have not done their Christmas shopping yet, according to a representative survey carried out by the Gallup Institute with the Institute for Trade & Marketing at WU Vienna from November 25 to 29.
Of those who haven't done their shopping for Christmas Eve, every second has waited for the shops to reopen on Monday. In contrast, four out of ten respondents in this group buy online, primarily from Amazon. As Gallup boss Michael Nitsche said on Friday, domestic online platforms would only play a subordinate role. “The lockdown therefore acts as a huge advertising campaign for Amazon and redirects a considerable part of the available budget there.” The losers are trade and the finance minister, who have lower tax revenues.
New platforms should be based on Amazon
According to Anton Salesny from the Institute for Commerce & Marketing, less than 20 percent of online shoppers decided to buy exclusively from domestic providers. “The winner of the crisis is clearly Amazon.” Newly created platforms should be based on this benchmark in terms of the simplicity of shopping. The good news for small retailers is that numerous consumers are planning to do their Christmas shopping in small local shops.
According to the survey, the expected run from Monday is primarily expected in shopping centers (48 percent), drugstores and perfumeries (44 percent) as well as in specialist shops, i.e. in hardware stores, toys and electronics, books and clothing (42 percent). Small local shops (39 percent) will benefit more than department stores (32). Since they were also open during the lockdown, supermarkets (26 percent) are naturally at the bottom of the list.
During the survey, a small part of the population had not yet given up hope of being able to buy one or two gifts at Christmas markets (16 percent). It remains to be seen how the population will react to the restrictions on the opening of trade that have now been announced.
