The spring lockdown showed that consumer habits are changing and that buyers are increasingly turning to online shopping, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Monday in a comment on data showing that online shopping in the first half of 2020 went up 13.9% on the year.

Data show that in the first month of the coronavirus epidemic online shopping went up 15%, “which is a big jump, as we know that so far it had increased about 12% on the year,” said Tomislava Ravlic of the HGK.

The items people buy online the most are clothes, shoes and household necessities, and the sale of fresh food from local producers has also recorded a marked increase. Ravlic said the online trade in fresh food increased seven times during the March and April lockdown.

Before the coronavirus, travel and accommodation accounted for 54% of online shopping, and tickets for entertainment for 41%, whereas now these sectors are recording the largest drops due to movement restrictions and assembly bans, she said.

The corona crisis has only accelerated global trends in consumer habits and behaviour. Classic commerce is increasingly merging with new technologies and switching to models which are combined with online commerce, the HGK said.

Ravlic said the food and non-food segments accounted for the biggest differences in consumption and fully switching to online commerce.