E-commerce was also transformed by restrained consumer consumption

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 03. 01. 11:41

As a result of inflation, financial insecurity due to the rise in the cost of living, as well as the stalled digital momentum after covid, the performance of domestic online trade last year was 6-8 percent lower than the previous year’s level in real terms. The price comparison portal Olcsóbbat.hu examined the most noticeable changes in the 100 most popular product categories compared to 2021, and in which direction purchases in online retail have shifted.

The most important impact on online commerce has undoubtedly been the rise in the cost of living. In particular, as a result of the uncertainty caused by food prices and – following the partial lifting of utility reduction – energy prices, the population significantly restructured their online spending. Among the biggest losers of the increase in overhead costs are, for example, mobile phones and online stores selling baby-mom products.

Olcsóbbat.hu registered 52 percent fewer searches for mobile phones and 48 percent fewer searches for smartwatches than in 2021, among the two technical device categories that are currently among the most sought after in e-commerce. But the decline was also significant in the categories of TV sets (-40%), tablets (-22%), and laptops (-43%). The demand for most household appliances also fell significantly: for example, microwave ovens were purchased by 37 percent, stoves by 35 percent, and vacuum cleaners by 28 percent less than a year earlier.

The reason for the perceptible decline in the former top categories was that the focus shifted to other product categories, instead of “luxury goods”, consumers tried to buy efficiently operating household appliances, as they can partly compensate for the rising overhead costs.