"There are no objective reasons for the decline in e-commerce in Estonia, so we believe that this turn was caused by consumers' emotional factors and a slightly different reaction to the changing environment. It is also important that e-commerce was more popular in Estonia than in Lithuania and Latvia, and it grew rapidly even during the most severe restrictions, so it is quite possible that the end of quarantine was seen by Estonians as a good opportunity to visit good old physical stores again. By the way, elements of similar behaviour are recorded in Lithuania, where market research shows that in some trade segments the ratio of physical and online trade volumes returned to last year's level in the summer - in favour of physical trade. It is possible to discuss how long this reaction will last and how sustainable it will be, but the example of Estonia also shows that it is perhaps a little too early to talk about fundamentally changed consumer habits,”, - says Giedrė Blazgienė, “Luminor” bank Head of Sales in Lithuania.
She noted that consumers in all three Baltic countries behaved similarly in June, when in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the sales volume of the household goods (DIY) segment was 20-25% above last year’s figures. For the rest of the summer, there were no significant fluctuations in Latvia and Estonia, but in Lithuania, the turnover in this segment jumped again at the end of August and exceeded by more than 25 percent last year’s spending. Lithuania also stood out by the growth of expenses in pharmacies. Although the increase in pharmaceutical spending was recorded throughout all three Baltic states in the summer of this year, the increase in Lithuania was particularly strong - since July, spending in pharmacies has exceeded last year's figures by almost 40%.
"This is probably due to the increased tension due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and increased self-medication, as regular medical services become harder to access. Lithuanians are traditionally considered more emotionally influenced than their northern neighbours, so such loyalty to pharmacies should not be very surprising. The travel segment continues to receive little good news. In the middle of the summer, there was a slight reprisal to its decline, but the turnover in these services in all three countries is still lower by about 40% compared to 2019”, - said G. Blazgienė.
She noted that Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians spend less on fuel, entertainment and restaurants, but all countries buy more food. It is true that the end of August recorded an increase in clothing spending (especially in Latvia), but this is explained by the upcoming autumn and winter season.
"On the other hand, one must acknowledge that exception made of travel spending which has all but completely frozen, the consumers of the Baltic States have only slightly slowed down their purchases. The strategy of market support and money injection into domestic consumption, which has been quite active in all three countries, seems to have paid off. In addition, the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian economies have proven to be more resilient to the COVID-19 crisis than expected. This was reflected both in changes in consumer spending, and in expectations. At the end of the autumn, it will be clear to what extent these expectations are resilient to the deteriorating situation due to the renewed pandemic”, stated G. Blazgienė.
The Luminor survey is based on an analysis of the bank's customer payments.
