As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer expenditure throughout Russia dropped considerably, with store-based retailing being particularly negatively impacted. Consequently, transaction volume and value fell sharply, following years of already sluggish growth.

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Store cards transaction value and volume were negligible in Malaysia at the end of the review period, and this is expected to remain the case over the forecast period. Consumers continue to view the wider acceptance of credit/debit cards to be an advantage, as store cards can be used only at limited points of purchase.

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Retail demand for soup in Canada has soared in 2020 as a result of lockdown, with many consumers desiring the products for cooking ingredients and as meals on their own. Cooking at home has increased significantly on account of the lockdown and ongoing home seclusion, with soup offering easy-to-make and quick-to-prepare solutions. They are also versatile dishes and therefore consumers with more time to cook can experiment with a variety of soup recipes. Frozen soup and the largest category…

Following seven years of negative value growth figures, soup sees a small growth boost from the conditions in 2020. This is primarily thanks to peaking sales during the COVID-19 lockdown period, with instant soup proving especially popular thanks to its convenience factor. Additionally, soup (except for chilled soup) typically has a long shelf life, which makes it perfect as a stockpiling product. Previously to the uptick seen in 2020, Belgian households have been shunning soup such as…

Volume growth in retail sauces, dressings and condiments has accelerated significantly in 2020, aided by the lockdown closure of restaurants, cafés and other foodservice outlets, as well as by a notable increase in home cooking. In Q1, consumers stockpiled all types of products in this category, even those previously in decline such as mustard. In 2020, more meals have been consumed at home on account of COVID-19 seclusion, with many Canadians working or studying from home, encouraging the…

COVID-19 has a positive impact on the demand for sauces, dressings and condiments in 2020, spurring both value and volume growth. During the lockdown period, households were having more meals at home, coupled with precautionary stockpiling, which led demand for cooking ingredients and table sauces to rise rapidly. In the second half of the period, sales were further boosted by a greater degree of consumers working from home and snacking/cocooning moments.

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With consumers confided to their homes through the lockdown period, which started in March 2020, home cooking increased. This led to a rise in sales of pasta, rice and noodles from retailers, which is predicted to result in value growth of 33% in 2020, compared to recorded growth of 4% in 2019. As such, the category will see the fastest value growth in 2020, with chilled pasta and rice performing particularly well. Dried pasta is also set to perform very well, with the entire category…

On the whole, ready meals has seen accelerated growth in 2020 because of consumers’ response to the lockdown, with stockpiling common amid large numbers of people working and studying from home. The convenient nature of ready meals has been popular among busy families with their normal routines disrupted. Although the foodservice channel for ready meals is small, its closure has been offset by increasing retail sales to supermarkets, warehouse clubs and e-commerce during March and April.…

Compared to the past two years, ready meals is growing at relatively slower paces in 2020, both in volume and value terms. Lockdowns caused by COVID-19 have inspired a level of stockpiling, leading to rising demand for ready meals with longer preservation periods (for example, shelf-stable and frozen), as opposed to chilled alternatives. Chilled ready meals and chilled lunch kits have also suffered from business closures and higher numbers of consumers working from home, as such products…

Stockpiling, panic-purchases and the closure of foodservice outlets is set to result in value growth of 16% for processed meat and seafood in 2020, compared to a recorded value growth of 4% in 2019. Meat substitutes recorded the highest growth; however, shelf stable meat is set to record the biggest difference in year-on-year growth, recording 15% in 2020, compared to a decline in 2019. As many consumers took to stockpiling, they aimed for shelf-stable processed meat and seafood, including…

Due to panic-buying in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, value growth is set to move from 2% in 2019 to a prediction of 14% in 2020. All products in processed fruit and vegetables will see a surge in sales, with frozen processed vegetables and frozen processed potatoes recording the fastest value growth, as consumers were keen to stock up on frozen goods that could be stored in the home. This was especially the case as foodservice closed during the lockdown period, and consumers…

Pre-paid cards was strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. All types of pre-paid cards saw a strong decline in usage due to social isolation measures and other restrictions related to outside-home and tourism activities.

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The COVID-19 pandemic that hit parts of China in the early months of 2020 resulted in a slowdown in macroeconomic growth, with a large number of stores closed during local lockdowns. This negatively affected the pre-paid cards that are closely related with such outlets, which will see a marked decline in transaction value over 2020 as a whole.

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Overall consumer expenditure in Russia has been negatively impacted by the widespread decline in demand for services, tourism and foodservice throughout the country and consequent impact on GDP. Consumer payments were already shifting away from cash before the COVID-19 outbreak, in line with ongoing modernisation and government programmes such as the MIR national social payment system. However, one of the major consequences of the pandemic has been an acceleration of this migration from cash…

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated migration towards non-cash payments in Russia, predominantly debit cards. Indeed, contactless debit card payments are increasingly becoming the norm throughout the country. However, at the beginning of the outbreak, due to widespread uncertainty, many consumers used debit cards to withdraw money from ATMs. The closure of retail and consumer foodservice outlets and social distancing later resulted in a decline in POS usage during the pandemic. However,…

Although debit card issuance was heavily impacted by the lockdown to slow the spread of the pandemic in China in early 2020, it has since been recovering quickly with the reopening of the economy. In the first quarter of 2020, one of most obvious COVID-19 impacts on debit cards was reduced circulation of new cards, as almost all bank outlets closed during the lockdown period. In February, in particular, the circulation of personal debit cards slumped compared to the same period a year…

With cash usage in decline throughout Russia, credit cards continue to gain a growing share of consumer payments. In addition, the massive rise in e-commerce following the COVID-19 outbreak has also helped to support this trend. Although consumer spending was negatively impacted by COVID-19 and resulting restrictions, the portion of payments accounted for by credit cards has increased as consumers continue to move away from cash. Online shopping and delivery are already well-developed in…

Virtual credit cards and online credit card approval became the new customer acquisition mode at the height of the pandemic. During the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in January and February 2020, there was a significant decline in the physical use of banks’ credit cards, as a major decline in use was seen at theatres, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls and tourist attractions as well as on public transport various traffic.

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While outstanding balance will continue to increase at a similar rate to a year earlier in 2020, gross lending will see a marked slowdown. Not only was it difficult for many consumers in China to spend large amounts on non-essential goods during the local lockdowns they were experiencing, but consumers will also be curbing their spending, particularly in terms of taking out new loans, in the face of the economic uncertainty that came with the measures to contain the spread of the virus. As…

The use of fuel cards gradually increased during the review period. However, it is not a classic type of charge card as fuel cards lack a credit option and work in a similar way to debit cards, while allowing companies to control the expenses of drivers and other employees. Although some of these cards have a function to cover fuel expenses at the end of the month, fuel cards with an additional credit function are limited in number. The overall number of such cards across Russia remained…