In the last year, 643,334 people between the ages of 16 and 74 in the Balearic Islands bought clothing, shoes or fashion accessories online, according to data just published by the National Institute of Statistics or INE.
That’s almost 43% of the population and an increase of roughly 10% year-on-year, but it’s well below the Spanish average 53.8%.
Madrid tops the list of internet shoppers in the country with 63% of residents buying online, Galicia has the least amount of internet shoppers on the Peninsula at 47% and the Canary Islands has the fewest nationwide with just 37.5% of the population buying goods online.
These statistics don’t include holiday accommodation or tickets for shows, which is what most people usually buy online.
Trend
The change in consumer habits has been fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic with huge numbers of people surfing the internet during lockdown.
In the last decade online shopping has more than doubled in the Balearics which has caused a massive slump in sales in small and medium sized businesses.
In 2019, 35% of residents bought clothes and sports equipment online. This year, 43% residents bought clothing and fashion accessories and 24% bought sporting goods, mostly due to a surge in the number of people exercising at home during lockdown. That trend has continued since the State of Emergency ended with many people frightened to return to the gym for fear of infection or because they can’t afford the fees.
Large numbers of people in the Balearics turned to cooking to stave off the boredom during lockdown and according to the INE data, one in four bought their ingredients online.