The new prime time for online shopping is the evening
Recently, more and more Swiss customers have been shopping on Galaxus and Digitec after dinner rather than in the morning or before they’ve finished work. This has a lot to do with today’s excessive use of smartphones – and with our order deadline being extended to 9 p.m. One exception to the trend is Ticino.
Tummy’s full, the children are in bed. It’s time for some online shopping. Recently, the period between 8 and 10 p.m. has become a more popular time to shop than before noon and before clocking off work. Last year, an average of 14 in 100 orders on Galaxus and Digitec were placed during these two hours.
Just four years ago, it was different. In 2020, Swiss shoppers mainly placed their orders online just before lunch and in the afternoon. The second peak was just before they finished work. This means that Galaxus and Digitec customers used their working hours to do their shopping more than they do today.
Looking back at 2016, a trend was already visible then: «Since then, however, our habits have shifted even more rapidly towards evening shopping,» says Hendrik Blijdenstein, Chief Commercial Officer responsible for the Galaxus and Digitec product range. Even the order peak at the end of the working day has disappeared. Hendrik summarises: «Instead of shopping at work, today we shop before bed.»
According to Hendrik, the fact that customers are now shopping on Galaxus and Digitec later in the day is partly due to the order deadline. The online retailer extended this from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the autumn of 2023, meaning that anyone who orders by 8:59 p.m. will usually receive their delivery the very next day. «By extending the order deadline, we’re responding to the need for more flexibility in online shopping,» says Hendrik.
We’re addicted to our phones
However, the extended order deadline doesn’t explain why customers order the most in between 9 to 10 p.m. of all times. In 2024, an average of 7.2 per cent of all products went over the virtual counter during this period.
A look at the figures reveals that many customers have become accustomed to shopping on their phones in recent years. So much so, in fact, that August 2024 was the first time they used their phones more regularly than their computers to shop on Galaxus and Digitec.
Evening/night-time and lunchtimes are the times when customers prefer to shop on their phones than on their PCs. «Nowadays, our daily lives are so busy that some people don’t get to relax until the evening, and by using their phone on the sofa, shopping can be done quickly and casually,» says Hendrik.
A slightly less important factor is that more and more women are shopping on Galaxus and Digitec – especially in the evenings. Today, the ratio is almost exactly four women to six men, based on all orders and the trend is rising. Of course, women also use men’s accounts, and vice versa.
In Ticino, working time is also shopping time
Incidentally, there are major differences in shopping time depending on the language region. While habits are very similar between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino stands out. Italian-speaking Switzerland places orders from Galaxus and Digitec during working hours – and hardly at all otherwise.
How have your shopping habits changed in recent years? Do you appreciate the extended order deadline of 9 p.m? Do you browse our site during working hours? Let us know in the comments!
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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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