E-Commerce During COVID in Spain: One “Click” Does Not Fit All

By Prachi Mishra, Alvaro Ortiz, Tomasa Rodrigo, Antonio Spilimbergo, Sirenia Vazquez

May 24, 2024

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Format: Chicago

Prachi Mishra, Alvaro Ortiz, Tomasa Rodrigo, Antonio Spilimbergo, and Sirenia Vazquez. E-Commerce During COVID in Spain: One “Click” Does Not Fit All, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2024) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

The share of e-commerce in total credit-card spending boomed during Covid in Spain. In particular, women, youth, and urban consumers used e-commerce proportionally more during the pandemic, especially for services. Using a unique proprietary dataset on credit card transactions, we test conjectures about consumers’ behavior (based on fear, hoarding, or learning) during Covid. Overall, e-commerce share reverted to its pre-Covid trend as the pandemic waned. However, some consumers with lower pre-Covid e-commerce usage tend to permanently use more e-commerce, supporting the conjecture of “learning by locking” for these individuals.

Subject: Consumption, COVID-19, Expenditure, Health, National accounts, Population and demographics, Total expenditures

Keywords: Aggregate consumption e-commerce, Consumption, Covid, Covid e-commerce usage, Covid trend, COVID-19, E-commerce, E-commerce share, Europe, Learning, Share of e-commerce, Total expenditures

Publication Details

Pages:

36
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2024/107
Stock No:

WPIEA2024107
ISBN:

9798400277399
ISSN:

1018-5941

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