Hungarians continue to shop in malls during outbreak
A large number of Hungarians refused to change their purchasing habits and continued to buy food, medicine and hygienic products in shopping malls, but did so wearing masks and keeping the required safe distance, the survey found. Indotek Group interviewed 23,000 people in person in 4 shopping malls in Budapest and 13 outside the capital, asking if they had made purchases in person in the given location during the outbreak, how much they supported online commerce and whether they feared a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two out of three people interviewed (67%) continued buying in shopping malls during the lockdown. The ratio was 56% in Budapest and 72% outside the capital.
In Sopron, Szeged and Szolnok, more than 90% visited a shopping mall during the outbreak, followed by a 80% rate in Győr, Nagykanizsa and Kaposvár. On the other hand, less than half (40%) of those interviewed in Pécs used the local mall during the lockdown.
According to Indotek, visitor numbers in shopping malls gradually returned to pre-crisis levels after 4 May. During the phase when restrictions were lifted step by step, customer numbers rose about 10% each week, and shopping malls participating in the survey said they had 80% of their pre-virus customers back even before movie theatres reopened. The survey also found that while customer numbers are higher in Budapest, those living in smaller cities are regulars who returned to the stores still open even during the hardest period.
Majority prefer buying in person
Even though all respondents were interviewed in person in the participating malls, nearly a third of them were found to prefer online purchases. The ratios in this regard were similar in the capital and outside Budapest, but more than 90% of people in Nagykanizsa, Debrecen and Kaposvár appear to prefer buying things in person, while about half of those interviewed in Miskolc, Pécs and Budapest’s Duna Plaza preferred online purchases.
According to experts speaking at a recent online conference of Cushman & Wakefield, the increasing ratio of online sales is just the first step in a process that could lead to retail units receiving new functions, such as placing greater emphasis on experience shopping or creating showrooms.
