Christmas Highlights 2023 | How did the market perform over the Christmas period?

We collected the data and now can report the results on how the market performed over the Christmas period (20/12-01/01).

Saturday 23 December 2023 was the day with the most card transactions during the festive period, with a record of 5.601 card transactions in one minute. In terms of seconds, the most transactions were carried out on New Year’s Eve, twice during the day with 159 card transactions in a single second at 13:55 and 15:09. The first transaction peak for 2024 occurred just one hour after New Year’s Eve at 01:20, with 274 transactions.

Every year, the Christmas period is traditionally an ideal opportunity for trips. This year, popular Christmas destinations gained further traction, with the region of Evritania showing the largest increase in the number of transactions during the holidays (+79%) and the regions of Karditsa (+50%), Trikala (+48%), Pieria (46%), Drama (44%), Aitoloakarnania (44%) and Pella (41%) to follow.

Concerning online card purchases, booking ferry tickets is leading the way in consumer preferences, with a +280% growth compared to 2022 (and a +32% growth in physical card transactions). Meanwhile, hotel bookings were up compared to Christmas 2022, with online transactions up 30%.

It is also noted that both road and bus tours were numerous during the holidays, with the percentage increase in the number of physical POS transactions at bus counters, toll booths and bridges reaching +17% and +20% respectively. The picture was similar for online transactions, with the percentage increase in the number of transactions reaching +129% for bus and +34% for toll booths and bridges.

In addition, during the festive period, fast food showed a significant percentage increase in transactions compared to last year, with a +26% increase in physical stores, while online orders were also up by +42%.

In terms of shopping preferences, the telecoms products sector occupied an important position in the top 5 consumer preferences, with a +22% increase in online transactions compared to 2022, while card transactions at parking and cinemas also increased by 21% and 16% respectively.

Find here the infographic (in Greek)

• Cardlink collects and processes data relating to card transactions carried out at partner businesses.
• These figures reflect general market trends and should not be considered representative of Worldline’s market share or profits in Greece.
• You may freely use and publish the above Cardlink insights and graphs, with reference to the source and the link.