Mastercard has released new data showing that European consumers have become ‘early birds’ over the last five years. The new analysis points to cinema viewings and evening meals taking place earlier in the evening, while shopping is taking place earlier in the week compared to pre-pandemic habits, and holiday shopping is happening earlier in the year too.
The triple whammy of early bird behaviours was revealed in Mastercard Economics Institute’s ‘Did you know?’ series, in which researchers at the credit card corporation, aggregate and report on anonymised data from its spending metrics, including in-store and online retail sales from Mastercard Spending Pulse.
Early eating is in
In 2024, consumers in Europe are finishing meals in restaurants earlier than in 2019, according to today’s average time stamp on restaurant card payment transactions. The dinner gong is being struck just 11 minutes earlier in Hungary, Switzerland and Denmark, but Austrians are sitting down to dine nearly 20 minutes earlier than five years ago. While less pronounced, the trendline for order-in food transactions shows that it’s not only restaurant meals but domestic meals too that are taking place earlier in the evening.
The report suggests post-Covid changes in working patterns are one factor behind the phenomenon. Thanks to homeworking, people can perhaps be more flexible about their after work arrangements. A growing shift toward healthier lifestyles since the pandemic should also be factored in. Google searches for “self-care” have risen since Covid, and Europeans are sleeping earlier and longer than before, according to Samsung Health statistics.
Grocery Mondays and freer weekends
The time freedoms that homeworking brings, include the freedom to do chores. Consumers are now choosing to do their provisions shopping earlier in the week on Mondays and Tuesdays as opposed to the traditional weekend trek to the supermarket. Weekday grocery shopping rose by 2.3% in Italy, while in Denmark salon and gym visits during the week have gone up by around 3.5%.
If weekends are being emptied of chores and self-care, it’s because they are being saved for what Mastercard calls “more experiential activities like bars and restaurants,” the report notes. “In the United Kingdom and Sweden the weekend share of restaurant spend has increased by 3.2 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively.”
Launched in 2020 to scrutinise macroeconomic trends through a consumer lens, the Mastercard Institute team of economists, analysts and data scientists draws on Mastercard insights and third-party data to deliver regular reporting on economic issues for key customers, partners and policymakers.