Belgian consumer preferences revealed

The pandemic has led to major changes in consumer spending in Belgium, with Belgians spending significantly more on food and alcohol last year and much less on clothes.

According to statistics, the average household spent 35,209 euros in 2020, which is more than 500 euros less than two years ago. Specifically, spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 12%, while sales of other items such as bread and cereal products (+6%), fruit (+10%), milk (+10%), meat (+12%), fish and shellfish (+15%), coffee (+23%) and vegetables (+26%) all increased.

These are the results of offline store closures, people cooking at home more frequently, and the cost of takeout meals has tripled.

Spending on alcohol also increased , with Belgians buying 10% more alcoholic beverages, or around €600 per drink. The biggest increase was in alcoholic soft drinks, where sales tripled, with wine, beer and spirits showing the biggest growth.

As people stayed at home, they also spent more on interior decoration . Furniture sales increased by 30%, home textiles increased by 20%, garden supplies increased by 16%, and consumers also bought more vacuum cleaners and air conditioners.

The industry with the most significant sales decline was the clothing industry , where overall spending fell 30% year-on-year. By gender, men's spending on shirts fell by half, and spending on suits fell by 71%. Women's spending on trousers fell by 27%, spending on shirts fell by 39%, and spending on underwear fell by 22%.

With the opening of offline activities, recent data shows that online spending in Belgium has grown significantly in the first half of 2021, especially related to air travel, and food spending is also increasing, but the parcel delivery industry is slowing down. Compared with 2019, sales are still slightly higher, but no longer experiencing double the explosive growth in 2020.

Although e-commerce growth has slowed, e-commerce sales are expected to recover in the fall, driven by year-end sales and promotional events such as Black Friday and Singles' Day.

Europe

Belgium

E-commerce