The impact of Level 5 restrictions on consumer spending have been revealed in figures released by the Banking and Payments Federation.
Cash withdrawals from ATMs and card spending dropped in October, due to the shutdown of non-essential retail outlets. But online shopping boomed, with more consumers buying Irish as a rising number of local businesses sell their wares on websites.
Around €6 billion will be spent by shoppers over the Christmas period, but Retail Excellence Ireland said it will not make up for the losses incurred during the six weeks of Level 5 restrictions.
Figures just released by the Banking and Payments Federation on the usage of contactless payments for October show they slumped to levels not seen since June.