SIBS Analytics report – 100 days of pandemic presents a more comprehensive view by analysing the period of 100 days since the state of emergency was officially declared in Portugal, thus allowing for different perspectives and comparisons on consumption evolution. Also, the report includes, within the scope of the formal partnership between SIBS and ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics and Management, additional insights that add a deeper perspective to the dimensions analysed.

The MB WAY service payment for physical purchases registers a significant growth during the pandemic period, reaching record values in the recent months. During this period, the volume of physical purchases with MB WAY has doubled when compared to the beginning of the year, before the appearance of the first case of COVID-19 in Portugal, thus increasingly affirming itself as the option most used by consumers when making mobile phone “contactless” payments.

The confinement period generated a drop of around 50% in physical purchases when compared to the pre-COVID months of January and February. In online purchases, the decrease was less expressive (only 17%), thus allowing e-commerce to gain preponderance in the total of transactions carried out. During this period, the weight of e-commerce in total purchases increased from 9%, in the period before the pandemic, to 14% in the period of greatest confinement and now stands in 11%.

For more details on the Consumer Indicators, see Report attached.