In March, people really did let out their inner hamster, it seems. According to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), turnover in the second week of March was 35 percent higher than in the same week a year ago. The turnover for that week- running from March 9 to 15- was even greater than it was in the week before Christmas, which is usually the week with the highest sales. 

The most popular items for hoarding

Sales of non-perishables like canned goods, freezer vegetables, rice and pasta increased especially in terms of percentage. But it was rice that saw the biggest increase in turnover, at more than 150 percent. This means that rice generated more than 2,5 times as much revenue. For both freezer vegetables and canned vegetables, the revenue was more than 115 percent higher than normal. Fresh vegetables also saw the checkout more often, however, revenue for this group didn’t increase as much as non-perishables, at almost 30 percent more than usual.

Stocking up on toilet paper and hand soap

The figures reflect a few other things we went full hoard on, namely toilet paper and hand soap. The revenue for hand soap was a whopping five times higher than it was in the same period a year ago. As for toilet paper, the turnover had more than doubled in the second week of March compared to what it was in 2019. The turnover of pharmaceutical products was also 150 percent higher in the second week of March than it was in the same period in 2019.