Behind the scenes
The new prime time for online shopping is the evening
by Alex Hämmerli
The new normal: evenings are our new favourite time to shop
31.5.2022
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
The pandemic has changed our consumer behaviour. Shopping online used to be something we crammed in before finishing up at work. Today, most orders are made after 9 p.m. When it comes to preferred shopping times, there are major differences between the genders and age groups.
Lockdown? Lifted! Masks? A thing of the past! Remote work? Optional! At least for now, Switzerland seems to have moved after the pandemic. What’s remained are new habits. For example, many people have discovered how convenient and inexpensive shopping online is. And established online shoppers are placing their orders later in the day. This was revealed by an evaluation of all purchases at digitec and Galaxus in 2019, 2021 and in March and April 2022.
The latest sales figures show that online shopping activity is no longer what it was. In pre-pandemic times, orders peaked between 4 and 5 p.m. – a time when many office workers are finishing up for the day and about to head home. Today, online orders are increasingly placed in the evening, most often between 9 and 10 p.m. Shopping activity is also on the rise before your typical Swiss dinner time around 6 p.m. This is probably because many people are working an office job from home and manage to squeeze in a sneaky shop between work and dinner.
At the same time, Mondays, which used to be the most popular day, are so pre pandemic. We now much prefer Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for a shopping spree at digitec and Galaxus. Fridays have also become less important in online retail. And because we’ve already run our errands during the week, we have more time to enjoy other activates at the weekends.
The trend towards shopping online after sundown goes hand in hand with a shift to mobile shopping. In April 2022, for the first time ever, more Digitec Galaxus customers placed their order on their mobile than their PC.
Dinner’s ready!
Meanwhile, the hour between 9 and 10 p.m. is the nation’s favourite time to shop at digitec and Galaxus. The sales figures also indicate that many people in German-speaking Switzerland have dinner earlier than their compatriots in the French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. Their shopping slump sets in sooner, so people German-speaking Switzerland are ready to fill their carts again from 8 p.m. onwards. In the French- and Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland, lunch breaks are reserved for eating and relaxing and not for shopping.
Children delay shopping
Large differences exist between the genders and age groups. While women tend to shop before and right after lunchtime and in the evening, men’s online shopping activity is distributed evenly throughout the day.
Patterns can also be made out among age groups. The older the customers, the less they shop in the evening. School-age customers, on the other hand, rarely have the opportunity to shop online during the day. The same goes for 35- to 44-year-olds, as many of them might have to wait until the kids are in bed before they can run their errands.
When do you like to shop at digitec and Galaxus? Have your habits changed during the last two years? Have you noticed different shopping behaviours in your family members? Join the discussion in the comments!
Alex Hämmerli
Senior Public Relations Manager
Alex.Haemmerli@digitecgalaxus.chAt Digitec and Galaxus, I’m in charge of communication with journalists and bloggers. Good stories are my passion – I am always up to date.
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