Romanians’ shopping habits: Women are more open to paying by card, men prefer cash

Romanian women are more open to paying by card, while men prefer cash, according to a study of EY, cited by local news agency Mediafax. In terms of product categories, women prefer the card as a payment method for electronics and home appliances – 39%, cars – 30% and clothing items. Depending on the type of service, women pay by card for bank loans – 35%, insurance – 33% and healthcare services – 22%. The situation is slightly different in the case of men, the main products for which they pay by card being electronics and home appliances – 30%, clothing items – 29% and food – 26%. When it comes to the services they use card payment for, the top is led by bank loans – 33%, insurance – 25% and mobile telephony/internet services – 21%. Women mostly use cash when paying for food – 69%, clothing items – 68% and electronics and home appliances – 52%, as well as for paying for healthcare services – 73%, mobile telephony/internet services – 57% and insurance policies – 55%. Men also use cash when paying for food, clothing items and electronics, while in terms of services, they mostly use this type of payment for healthcare services – 79%, mobile telephony/internet services – 75% and insurance – 63%. Most of the Romanian women, namely 79%, prefer to purchase services from the stores, 7% would rather buy them online, while 14% use both ways. In the case of men, the situation is similar: 70% prefer to buy services from the stores, 8% online and 22% use both ways. When it comes to products, 68% of women prefer to buy them from stores and 6% online, while 63% men choose the stores and 7% buy products online. The study was conducted between March 31 and May 5 on a sample of 280 people aged between 20 and 35. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com