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A quiet Sinterklaas Day for debit card payments

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At Dutch retail checkouts, Sinterklaas Day in this COVID-19 year was no busier than an ordinary Saturday in September. The number of debit card payments in retail was less than 5% higher.

Sinterklaas in traditional red miter and cloak looks intently at a tablet, as if he is ordering digitally or arranging his banking affairs.

Sinterklaas visited bookshops (+40%) and markets (+40%) particularly often. For fashion and clothing, he probably placed most of his orders online, as debit card payments at physical fashion and clothing shops were down 30%. The Friday before Sinterklaas Day was also no busier at debit card checkouts than a normal Friday.

Overall, the shopping days around Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Sinterklaas were an estimated 10% busier than comparable ordinary weekdays. Compared with the same days in 2019, however, the number of debit card payments was 5% lower.

Much higher online spending offers little consolation

Sinterklaas turned to online shops much more often. During the shopping days, he made an estimated 35% more iDEAL payments than on ordinary weekdays, for an amount around 65% higher. Compared with the previous year, Sinterklaas bought from online shops around 50% more often and spent 30% more.

Sinterklaas’s total spending by debit card and iDEAL during all shopping days was an estimated 10% higher than a year earlier, but this offers little consolation to high-street retailers. The number of cash payments in Dutch shops has fallen by around one third since the previous year, and Sinterklaas buys around 30% of his gifts online from foreign retailers.

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