Valdas Lopeta, head of communications at IKI grocery chain, says that hot temperatures made trade in seasonal goods boom. Compared to the previous weekend, there was a two-fold increase in sales of flip-flops, sandbox toys, sunglasses, firewood and coal, grills and spits for barbecues.
“Sparkling and still water sales grew 50-70 percent, while beer and cider sold a third more. As to foods, people bought much fish – 57 percent more than the previous weekend – sales of frozen products, including ice cream, went up 55 percent, sausages sold 10 percent above usual levels,” Lopeta says.
Maxima spokeswoman Olga Malaškevičienė notes that the greatest spike was in demand for ice cream – during the hot weekend, the chain sold 4 times more than usual. Drinking water sales increased 40 percent. There was more interest in electric fans, too – Maxima made half of its April sales over two days of the last weekend.
“Lithuanians made sure they used skin protection before going outdoors – we sold 15 percent more hats than in the beginning of the month; our clients mostly bought children's hats. Obviously, there was greater demand for sun creams,” Malaškevičienė says.
Shoppers at RIMI emptied ice cream, kefir, grill meat shelves.
“Demand for these products grew considerably, compared to the previous weekend. The greatest increase was in ice cream sales, over 60 percent. There was great interest in kefir used for cold beetroot soup – one can say that the cold beetroot soup season is well underway,” says Raminta Stanaitytė-Česnulienė of RIMI.
Non-food products, too, experienced a boost, especially picnic goods. Sales of mosquito repellent grew two-fold, sun creams and hats – even more.
