Credit: STATEC
Luxembourg's national statistical office, STATEC, has published the results of its survey on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by households and individuals in the Grand Duchy between March and June 2020.
According to this survey, 85% of Luxembourg internet users bought goods or services online from companies or individuals during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, 70% said they had made online purchases in the three months preceding the survey, 10% said they shopped online between three months and a year before the survey and 5% said they bought goods or services online more than a year before the survey.
Internet users aged 25 to 44 were the most likely to shop online (78%). 65% of 16-24 year olds said they shopped online, whilst 49% of elderly people said they did the same. All internet users were more likely to shop online in 2020 than in 2019, although the largest increase was observed among those aged 55-64 (66% compared to 54%).
Overall, clothing was by far the most purchased physical goods during the months of March to May 2020 (60%), followed by restaurant deliveries (33%) and printed books, magazines and newspapers (32%). However, this differs by age: for 16-24 year olds, the most popular goods to buy online were clothing (65%) followed by restaurant deliveries (42%), books, newspapers (28%) and cosmetics and beauty articles (25% ). Among 25-54 year olds, clothing (65%), restaurant deliveries (36%) and books (31%) were followed by furniture and home accessories and children's toys or items (28%). Among 55-74 year olds, medication or nutritional supplements ranked 3rd (19%) alongside furniture and home accessories. DVDs, CDs and vinyls were more popular among 25-54 year olds (10-11%) and those over the age of 55 (8%) than among younger people (4-5%)
43% of online consumers said they had bought physical goods online from domestic sellers, 80% from European Union (EU) sellers and 30% from other sellers. 11% did not know the origin of the seller on the internet. In 2019, 30% of internet users ordered online from national sellers. 34% of online consumers purchased one or more of the above goods from other individuals via a site or an application such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace or mystuff.lu, among others.
In addition, 25% of online consumers purchased films or music by streaming or downloading. This format is now significantly more popular than the physical version. 19% of consumers purchased electronic books, magazines and newspapers, as well as online games. 16% purchased software or updates (16%) and tickets for cultural events (14%) online. In the context of the pandemic, ticket purchases were significantly lower than in 2019 (45%).
Between March and June 2020, 16% of online shoppers ordered a transport service (plane, train or taxi ticket) online. In terms of booking accommodation, 17% used the internet to rent accommodation directly from a hotel or through a travel agency and 5% to rent from a private individual through an Airbnb-type platform. In 2019, before the pandemic, 59% booked accommodation online. During the first three months of the pandemic, 27% of buyers made one or two orders online, 34% made three to five purchases, 18% between six and ten purchases and 21% placed more than ten orders online. These figures remained similar to those for 2019.
Finally, 7% of internet users took out or renewed an insurance policy online, including insurance offered with another service (travel, plane ticket, etc.) and 8% have invested in financial assets (stocks, bonds, funds...) online.
