Israelis Spend Hundreds of Millions in Last-Minute Holiday Shopping Spree

Israeli consumers spent over 459 million shekels ($125 million) on credit cards in just three hours on the morning of Friday, September 29, 2023, the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Data from the Sheba (Israel's national retail payments processing) network revealed that between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM, spending reached 459.06 million shekels. This represents a 2.7% increase compared to the same period last year, when 446.77 million shekels were spent.

The spending surge highlights a significant upward trend in last-minute holiday shopping. Compared to Rosh Hashanah eve in 2022, spending in these three hours was 422.93 million shekels, and in 2021, it was 378.39 million shekels. Over the past three years, the amount spent in the morning hours before Rosh Hashanah has increased by over 80 million shekels.

Consumer activity was highly concentrated, with a peak minute recorded at 10:56 AM. During that single minute, over 3.44 million shekels were processed across more than 18,000 transactions, illustrating the intense rush to complete purchases before the holiday began.

The figures indicate continued high consumer activity leading into the holiday, with spending in the morning hours surpassing both last year's figures and showing a substantial gap compared to previous years.