Promotions, prices, alternatives – promotions and Hungarian households

By: Tisza Andrea Date: 2025. 06. 05. 22:49

Tünde Turcsán, managing director of YouGov spoke about how Hungarian consumer attitudes have changed and the role of special promotions at the Day of Promotions conference. She told that in recent years households all over Europe have been in a difficult situation and people are paying more attention to their spending.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/6-7.

Turcsán Tünde
ügyvezető igazgató
YouGov

The Hungarian mindset and Europe

In Hungary nearly half of the approximately 4 million households say “I am just getting by” or “ I can’t really afford what I want”. Nearly 70% of the population feel they can only buy the most necessary products – not what they really want. The purchasing decisions of Hungarian consumers are now largely determined by price. A few years ago quality was clearly the most important factor in buying decisions, but the current economic situation has made price the dominant factor again – 69% of Hungarian households say they base their decisions primarily on this factor, which is even higher than the EU average of 62%. Hungarian households are cutting down on their spending more than the EU average. The top three methods are checking prices (63% vs. 53% in the EU), looking for price reductions/promotions (61% vs. 47% in the EU) and trying to keep the total amount of each shopping trip low (61% vs. 43% in the EU).

We buy in promotion and prefer private labels

While the share of promotions in Hungary reached 32% in 2024, it was much higher in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and around 30-35% in Poland, Austria, and Romania. As for the share of private labels – which offer a real alternative in terms of both promotions and switching to cheaper products – it is high in Hungary today, approaching 36%, while in the other countries of the region it is between 27% and 29%. The share of promotions in value sales, like that of private labels (+23.4%), surged by nearly 47% compared to 2022. However, while the share of manufacturer promotions also increased significantly compared to 2019 (from 19.8% to 22.7%), and a considerable increase is also expected from 2023 to 2024 (from 21.5% to 22.7%), the share of private label promotions remained largely unchanged. In hypermarkets 38% of manufacturer brand sales are realised in promotion, but promotional sales of private labels are well below 10%.

Promotion hunters

According to a segmentation based on the international ECR shopper typology, the three largest groups in Hungary are promo hunters, discount switchers and those who shop mainly in discount stores. These shopper types are evolving dynamically, in line with changes in retail. Back in 2019 the promo hunter group accounted for 22% of total value sales, a figure that now stands at around 14%. Approximately half of all purchases made by this customer group are promotional purchases. Promotion hunters visit stores much more often, which is important from an in-store communication perspective and they are receptive to communication: 33% say they actively watch advertisements (compared to 15% of Hungarian households), plus 55% like to try new products (average: 37%)