Insurance

“The epidemic has accelerated digital shopping trends in an unprecedented way. The e-commerce market is increasingly competitive, with personalized customer service being the hallmark for a business to stand out from the crowd. Understanding consumers’ priorities and expectations for online shopping is an important part of our mission is to provide our retail partners with what is important to them and their customers. ” Said Yannick Mooijman, UPS’s regional manager for Hungary.

Online commerce is ripe

According to the results of the research, the number of consumers who intend to make most or all of their purchases online in the future has increased by about half (their number has increased from 10 percent to 15 percent). At the same time, only about 40 percent of those surveyed say that even after the restrictions are lifted, they specifically want to shop only in stores, which represents an overall decrease of 26 percent from the pre-epidemic period. In each product category, there has been an increase in the number of people who are more likely to try online shopping than before.

Of course, there are pros and cons to both modes of trade. The experience of shopping in-store (important to 41 per cent) and the more personal experience (38 per cent) continue to support personal shopping, while more convenient shopping (48 per cent) and cheaper prices (38 per cent) are the main drivers of online shopping.

The majority of consumers in all product categories prefer larger retailers to smaller, independent companies and online marketplaces. At the same time, 50 percent of consumers want to help small businesses in some form. For smaller online retailers, food (25 percent) and clothing and footwear (24 percent) were the most popular commodities.

Factors beyond purchase

For 85 percent of consumers, the home delivery partner chosen by the retailer is the most important factor in making their decision, and 41 percent said it could be key in their decision to buy in the future. For 75 percent of respondents, sustainability is already the next most important factor.

Consumers want retailers to use sustainable packaging, with almost the same 54 percent and 50 percent, respectively, expecting it from big and small brands. Forty-two percent of those surveyed want traders to reduce their carbon footprint.

Consumer attitudes towards social media

More than half of respondents (60 percent) feel that brands communicated too much during the pandemic, with 57 percent of consumers saying smaller, independent brands did a better job of communicating on social media. In 2021, the number of consumers looking to shop through community e-commerce channels could increase by 15 percent.

The attitude of generations to online shopping

Unsurprisingly, 25-34 year olds, often seen as the first “digital native” generation, are more likely to continue online mainstream shopping after restrictions are lifted (22 percent) than those over 55 (10 percent). People over the age of 55 (56 percent) are much more likely to buy clothes and / or footwear in the store than those aged 18-24 (34 percent). Consumers over the age of 55 are more likely to expect free returns if they buy from larger retailers (62 percent), compared to 54 percent for those aged 18-24. This expectation has dropped to 36 and 39 percent for independent and local businesses, respectively.

External factors affecting e-commerce in 2021

Responding to a question about Brexit, 66 per cent of UK consumers surveyed thought products and goods bought from the EU would be more expensive, and 64 per cent said the new customs requirements would take longer to arrive. 72 per cent of consumers from EU countries surveyed say buying from the UK will be more expensive, and 69 per cent expect it to take longer to ship goods from the UK. Across Europe, 57 percent of consumers are preparing to cut their overall spending in 2021 as a result of the pandemic.

The study concludes that because of the larger potential customer base, companies need to assess much more the strengths of their e-commerce and delivery services – how they can optimize them for customer needs.

Despite the uncertainty of the current situation, survey data show that online shopping habits remain in line with pre-closure trends and even show signs of growth. In 2021, there will be new opportunities for all online retailers, regardless of size, to win new customers. To do this, businesses need to take a more holistic approach to the end-to-end customer experience, increase the range of personalized services, and increase the convenience of the shopping process to the extreme, especially when returning goods.

This year’s Apple World Developer Conference (WWDC) was loud about the company presenting the latest iterations of its major operating systems. These included macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, and – perhaps – most importantly, iOS enhancements. The new iOS 15 will get a lot of new features and a number of privacy enhancements. IOS 15 is expected to run this fall, and good news for that the vast majority of iPhone users will enjoy it as well.

For the second year in a row, Apple won’t be leaving behind other generations of iPhones in terms of upgrades, so that now also means that even iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users, originally released in 2015, will be able to jump to the 15 Series, though , some more technical new features will not work.

The figure below shows how the relationship between each iPhone series and newer and newer operating systems has evolved. It’s worth checking out that while the original iPhone and iPhone 3G only received two major iOS updates, later models typically received regular software updates for 5-6 years. In this perspective, it will be historical as well

even the iPhone 6s with iOS 9 will be the first phone generation to receive its seventh (!) iOS major update this fall.

For the time being, these iPhones are sure to escape scrapping

The picture clearly shows that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, launched in 2015, will not let go of Apple. So the owners of these phones are still doing well now, they too will get the new updates in the fall. So back 6 years now, now even a device owner can be happy.

In the two years before the epidemic, the revenues of the two large domestic fast food chains increased by 17-24 percent and the recruitment was continuous. However, restrictions imposed as a result of the epidemic also affected McDonald’s and Burger King restaurants. With takeaway food, drive in service, home delivery, they were able to achieve a deficit that was not so great – the cheeseburger was very sold out even during the pandemic – but revenue and profit after tax will still show a sharp decline in 2020.

According to the public data of the company information service of the Ministry of Justice, the McDonald’s Last year, the net sales of Progress Étteremhálózat Kft., which operates its Hungarian restaurants, amounted to HUF 37.41 billion, while in 2019 it also reached HUF 41.04 billion. That’s a 8.85 percent drop – but it’s still not as big as the drop in after-tax profit. About one third of the result of 2019 was less for the year of the epidemic, HUF 3 billion 668 million 590 thousand.

A Burger King In 2020, the net sales revenue of Fusion Befektetési Zrt., which operates restaurants, was roughly half that of Mekie, HUF 18.65 billion. Compared to 2019, this represents an 8.6 percent decline, similar to the rival. On the other hand, the decline in profit after tax was not as great as in the case of Meki, because while in 2019 the year closed with HUF 1.55 billion and in 2020 with HUF 1.32 billion.

Outbreak here or there: new restaurants open

Burger King opened its first restaurant in Hungary in 1991 at Oktogon in Budapest – by 2015 it was the second largest Burger King in the world. There are currently a total of 44 restaurants in Hungary, the sole operator of which is Fusion Befektetési Zrt., With the exception of the restaurant at Liszt Ferenc International Airport. Last year, it was a big dust that the burger king in the subway of Nyugati tér was finally gone, but in 2021 three new places could be opened as planned: in Sopron, Siófok and Szolnok.

McDonald’s very first restaurant opened in the center of Budapest in 1988 and the handover of the 50th Hungarian Meki took place already in 1996, and the 100th restaurant opened in Győr on August 28, 2009. However, Progress Étteremhálózat Kft. Currently operates 93 restaurants in Hungary, 41 of which are located in the capital – the most recent was opened in Békéscsaba at the end of last year.

How much is that?

Seeing the size of restaurant chains, it’s no wonder McDonald’s outperforms Burger King in terms of revenue, after-tax profit, and number of employees. The question, however, is how much they spend on raised wages and how much comes out of the average wage at companies. Of course, when we talk about the average, it includes all the employees from the cleaner to the accountant to the management, so it’s not just about the wages of restaurant workers.

In 2020, Meki employed an average of 1994 people, while Burger employed 1,013 people. McDonald’s thus achieved a 14.7 percent increase in headcount compared to 2019, while Burger King grew by 25.8 percent. The average gross monthly wage, which results from the distribution of the annual wage cost and the average number of employees, shows a decrease for both chains. We calculated HUF 328,441 gross in Meki and HUF 293,493 in Burger King. The former is 5, the latter 9.4 percent compared to 2019.

Even before the coronavirus epidemic broke out in Hungary, McDonald’s restaurant operator told the Money Center what wage increases are planned for 2020: “restaurant managers can take home 10 percent more money and other restaurant workers every month,” they replied. .

In addition, we introduced a new quarterly bonus system at the end of last year. As part of this, our managers can receive extra rewards on a quarterly basis based on the restaurant’s specific results, and our restaurant employees are also rewarded based on their time with the company.

– the company told our portal in February, and then it was explained that after the increase, the monthly monthly allowance for employees in McDonald’s restaurants in Budapest from the day of entry (excluding extra allowances and shift allowances). It is a question of what has come of it, as we do not have up-to-date information on full-time starting wages. However, the combined effect of the lifting of restrictions and the summer will allow more and more students to be placed in fast food chains.

In the case of student work, on the side of FürgeDiák, the Mekis of the capital usually pay a gross salary of 1,200 forints / hour, and after 18:00 there is also a supplement, but in some places it can reach 1,625 forints. 20 hours a week, the basic salary is HUF 96 thousand gross without bonuses. According to the advertisement of the MADS student cooperative, the gross basic salary in Burger King is HUF 1,025 / hour + shift allowance + bonus for restaurant workers, whether you work in Blahá, Astoria or in a cafeteria in Nyíregyháza. Based on these, not only the average wage recalculated from company reports, but also the wage for student work is lower in Burger King.

However, according to a recent study, not everything is wages. For young people starting their careers, a pleasant work atmosphere matters most when choosing a job, with 69 percent of respondents agreeing with this. This is followed by nearly half of respondents saying career and advancement opportunities and maintaining a work-life balance. Compared to the trends of previous years, the amount of the starting salary (41%) is only in the fourth place in the order of importance: it still matters, but young people now seriously consider other, less material-related aspects when choosing a job.