Greeks prepped for second wave

Greek consumers chose in September to purchase cars to avoid using public transport and computers to be equipped for teleworking and online classes, in a behavior pattern showing that they probably anticipated the second wave of the pandemic this fall.

The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data on retail commerce turnover in the third quarter of the year also showed that consumers avoided buying new clothes, again in anticipation of a second lockdown.

Retail commerce turnover amounted to 12.86 billion euros in July-September, down 5.6% from the €13.62 billion in the same period a year earlier. Compared to the second quarter of the year, there was an increase of 19.8%, as consumers appeared eager to get back to shopping at brick-and-mortar stores.

Among the products that consumers tended to ignore in the third quarter were watches and jewelry, as well as cosmetics. In those two categories, turnover recorded declines of 40.4% and 38.5% respectively.

In September alone, the data available to date showed a marginal drop of 0.3% year-on-year in retail turnover.