An increase in the activity characterizes the 2021 Christmas’ period. Total purchases registered a growth of 19% vs. 2019 and 26% vs. 2020. Regarding physical shopping, the increases were 12% and 26%, respectively. The e-commerce evolution trend continues to stand out since the growth was even more significant. Online shopping increased by 86% when compared to 2019 and 31% when compared to 2020. This reflects in the weight of these purchases in the total of electronic purchases, registering a weight of 14% in December 2021.
The transactions peak in the MULTIBANCO Network was on December 24, at 12 hours and 26 minutes, with 346 transactions per second. On the other hand, December 23 was the day of 2021 with the highest no. of physical purchases, registering a value 2x the daily average of the year.
An increase outside Portugal is also notable, with an increase in physical purchases by the Portuguese abroad (+13% vs. 2019 and +98% vs. 2020). Nevertheless, regarding physical purchases by foreigners in Portugal, there is an increase of 114% vs. 2020 and a decrease by 74% vs. 2019, because of the current pandemic situation.
In this year’s Christmas period, the Games & Toys sector stands out from the others, presenting a no. of purchases 3,0x higher than the monthly average of the rest of the year. Home & Decoration (2,3x), Fashion & Accessories (2,1x), Cosmetics & Perfumes (2,1x) and Technology (1,1x) follow this.
Finally, the significant growth in purchases with MB WAY is worth highlighting. In terms of physical purchases, MB WAY presents values 10x higher than in 2019 and 4x higher than in 2020. As for online purchases, MB WAY grows 6x and 3x, compared to 2019 and 2020, respectively.