Cardlink presents how the market performed during the Easter period

Cardlink, a member of Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, collects and processes data* from card transactions made at partner businesses and presents how the market performed during the Holy Week (10/04-16/04).

More specifically, compared to the same period last year, shopping activity remained at roughly the same level, with a limited decrease of 6%. The most card transactions per minute were carried out on Maundy Thursday, with 7,939 transactions, 2,026 fewer transactions compared to the corresponding figure on Christmas Eve (5,913 transactions).

During Holy Week (10/4 – 16/4), florists/plant nurseries led the way in terms of percentage increase in the number of transactions, showing an increase of 57% compared to the previous week (03/04-09/04), while a significant increase was also shown in purchases in butcher shops (+37%), pastry shops (36%), liquor stores (21%) and bakeries (+14%).

In addition, this Easter, as every year, traveling was in high demand. The Peloponnese was the top choice of travelers during the Easter period, as most of its regions had transactions of more than 30% during Holy Week. More specifically, compared to the week 03/04-09/04, during Holy Week, card transactions at tolls (roads and bridges) increased by 37%, while the top regions in terms of percentage increase in the number of transactions were: Corinth (+38%), Arcadia (+36%), Aitoloakarnania (+36%), Cyclades (+35%), Argolida (+34%), Ilia (+30%), Trikala (+30%), Corfu (+24%) and Evia (+22%). For Cyclades in specific, the islands that showed the highest percentage increase in the number of transactions during Holy Week, compared to the previous week, were Kythnos (+160%), Kea (+93%), Folegandros (+91%), Tinos (+90%) and Serifos (+82%).  Regarding the turnover of the Greek islands as a whole, Santorini ranked first, while it was Corfu, Mykonos, Paros, and Zakynthos that followed to complete the top 5 list.

*These figures reflect general market trends and should not be considered representative of Worldline’s market share or profits in Greece.