According to the statement made by ITO, as of July 10, 12 out of 19 sectors left the effect of the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) behind in sales with debit and credit cards.
ITO compared the expenditures made with cards in the weeks starting with March 13 and July 10 according to “CBRT Debit Card and Credit Card Expenditure Amounts”.
According to the research, consumers’ card expenditures increased by 47 percent in electronic goods and computers, while the increase in contractor works increased by 33 percent, furniture and decoration and building materials, hardware and hardware increased by 27 percent.
Expenditure items were followed by car rental with 24 percent increase, car rental-sales/service/spare parts with 22 percent increase and direct marketing with 14 percent increase.
On the other hand, expenditures on grocery stores and shopping malls, private pensions, service sectors, jewelers, food, health-health products-cosmetics, education- stationery-office supplies are rapidly approaching their pre-pandemic levels.
The research showed that in the last 4 months of the pandemic, the share of internet shopping in card expenditures exceeded 24 percent.
“Expenditures give clues about the change in consumer behavior”
ITO President Şekib Avdagiç, whose views were included in the statement, stated that the amount of expenditures made with debit and credit cards gives clues about sectoral demand changes in consumer behavior.
Avdagiç said, “We have seen during the pandemic process that almost everyone now wants to pay even 5 liras contactlessly with a card without withdrawing cash from the bank. At least 7 out of 10 people take out their debit or credit card, not money from their wallet at the cash register. For this reason, card spending amounts are very important data for the markets.”
Stating that they received feedback from their members that shopping with cards is becoming increasingly widespread, Avdagiç said, “Based on the CBRT data, we examined how much the sectors came out of the Covid-19 effect. We saw that POS devices were working fast and spending returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
Avdagiç noted the following:
“In the week of March 13, when the epidemic started, we examined how much every 100 lira expenditure amount made with the card decreased or increased in the week of July 10. We were pleased to see that in many of our sectors, card shopping exceeded the pre-pandemic level. In other words, we can say that ‘POS devices signaled a return to pre-pandemic levels’. However, some of our sectors are trying to approach their old levels. We think that the old level will be achieved or even exceeded in these sectors with normalization.”
According to ITO research, card shopping expenditures in the “New Normal” are as follows:
For every 100 TL spent with a card in the week of March 13, how many TL was spent in the week of July 10?
Sectors that returned to pre-pandemic levels
Electrical-electronic goods, computer:147
Contractor works:133
Furniture and decoration:127
Building materials, hardware, hardware stores:127
Car rental:124
Vehicle rental-sales/service/spare parts:122
Direct marketing:114
Telecommunications:111
Clothing and accessories:109
Gasoline and fuel stations:108
Diverse food:107
Insurance:103
Sectors approaching the old level
Grocery stores and shopping centers: 99
Individual pension: 96
Service sectors: 92
Jewelers: 92
Food: 86
Health/health products/cosmetics: 85
Education / stationery / office supplies: 81
Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/ekonomi/ito-baskani-avdagic-harcamalar-pandemi-oncesine-dondu/1915343
