Supermarket aisles seen quieter than expected ahead of Rosh Hashanah, despite NIS 500m. spent

Shoppers spent nearly NIS 459 million on card payments during Friday morning ahead of Rosh Hashanah, but supermarkets remained unusually quiet compared with previous holiday eves, with retailers attributing the trend to earlier shopping, overseas travel, and economic pressures.

While people expected the heavy crowds typically seen on the morning before the Jewish New Year, with checkout lines stretching to the entrance of stores, the reality was completely different: Traffic at supermarket chains was especially light, even compared with a regular Friday.

"I have never seen anything like this," a branch manager at one of the retail chains told Walla. "We were just talking about it as a team, that there are barely any people. Either everyone already did their shopping earlier, or everyone flew abroad. They said Ben-Gurion Airport is crowded."

According to data from Shva, Israel's Automated Banking Services company, Israelis made NIS 459.06 million in credit card purchases between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. This marked a slight 2.7% increase compared with the same period before Rosh Hashanah last year, when spending totaled NIS 446.77 million.

The peak minute was recorded at 10:56 a.m., when more than NIS 3.44 million was spent through 18,000 transactions in a single minute.

Higher prices drive spending despite quieter stores

However, the slight increase in spending does not appear to reflect a surge of consumers filling stores. Instead, it likely stems mainly from price increases in major holiday products.

The surprising quiet on the morning before the holiday capped a trend seen throughout recent weeks, as traditional holiday shopping waves were barely noticeable due to a combination of low national morale, the timing of the holiday falling across the weekend, and the heavy financial burden of the summer vacation period.

The sparse activity in supermarket aisles was accompanied by fewer deep discounts from retailers seeking to protect profit margins. An examination by the Institute for Retail Research found that while the overall shopping basket did not rise across the board, key products for the holiday table became significantly more expensive compared with the same period last year.

Avocado prices jumped by 44.3%, dry onions rose by 39.3%, fresh chicken liver increased by 21.3%, and packaged carrots became 19.6% more expensive. Overall, fruit and vegetable prices rose by an average of 7.3%, while wine prices increased by 6.3%.

Large price gaps found between supermarket chains

The examination also found major price gaps of around 40% between different retail chains for products such as whole fresh chicken and fresh chicken schnitzel.

As a result, Israelis who reached the checkout counters faced weaker competition and higher prices on key products, better explaining the rise in total spending despite the unusually empty supermarkets.