Flemings buy more economically, sustainably and locally due to inflation and energy crisis | Inland

“We also notice this with our traders”, says Danny Van Assche, CEO of Unizo. “There may be slightly fewer units sold left and right, but people are opting for more durability and quality.”

This weekend, 11 million customers will be pampered by 14,000 merchants across the country during Customer Weekend. The fact that customers shop more in their own neighborhood doesn’t mean they don’t go shopping in other cities. Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Hasselt and Leuven are the five favorite shopping cities for the Flemish.

“They shop more locally and locally, but that doesn’t mean they prefer one store or the other. Consumers find it important that the shopping center in a village or city offers a good mix. That there are trusted chains where they will buy certain things, but that there are also those unique stores that ensure that one shopping center is not the same as another.”

Especially accessibility (20 percent), cleanliness (13 percent), the mix of chains and independent stores (12 percent) and affordable parking (12 percent) are of decisive importance for customers to have a pleasant shopping experience. The car also remains the most important mode of transport for both the Fleming (59 percent) and the Waal (81 percent) when shopping. Public transport scores poorly with the Flemish population at 1 percent. To increase this percentage, additional investments are needed, according to research by Unizo and Comeos.

It also appears that shoppers have less and less cash in their pockets. Contactless payment in particular is on the rise. Compared to a year ago, 65 percent of respondents say they now pay more contactless than last year. Mostly the ‘classic’ bank card is used (87 percent).

Comeos is also launching its ‘Responsible Commerce’ action plan during Customer Weekend to encourage merchants to save on energy bills.

“With the Responsible Commerce action plan, we are taking three measures,” says Klaas Soens of Comeos Vlaanderen. “The first is the neon signs and the lights in the shop window go out after closing time. The second measure is that there are no more open doors at the entrance so as not to waste energy, and that the heating is lowered by one degree to 19 degrees. In this way, we hope to save energy and also reduce energy bills in the long run.”

For many traders, the high energy bills come on top of the two years that they were completely or partially closed due to corona. Rental costs also increase by ten percent. “Fortunately, the government has taken measures such as the Flemish job bonus. He gives 700 euros to people who go to work and this gives oxygen to the people. We are still discussing whether, in the context of the commercial rent, the index can be calculated less for energy-consuming properties, as has now been decided for the private rental market.”

Rising costs for merchants also affect the pricing of their products. Part of this is passed on to the consumer. “We try to limit that. In the supermarket, for example, we really try to keep the price as low as possible because we see that consumers are very price sensitive. Two-thirds of consumers also indicate that they are going to shop more price-consciously and buy more qualitatively than quantitatively.”

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