For months everything has been going up. Gas, electricity, gasoline, food… Inflation affects everyone and everything. Just as the price of things has risen, there has also been an increase in the number of searches for offers and discounts. This is when the Spanish picaresque resurfaces. Citizens are moving to reduce, even a few tenths, their spending on their daily purchases.

The main portals for offers and discounts in Spain make it clear. “Spanish people are increasingly concerned about finding savings formulas that help them make ends meet. In a context like 2023, in which savings were more necessary than ever, searches for offers reached 424.2 million, increasing 8%,” comments David Gutiérrez, spokesperson for the Chollometro portal.

It also warns that, “25,184 offers on food-related products were published, which represents an increase of 12% compared to 2022. In parallel, searches for offers on food products grew by 17% in the last three years.”

With fashion, electronics and accessories being the top 3 of the most searched, the food sector also has a strong weight in this trend, especially visible in the reports from this past 2023. “Although the three most in-demand categories continue being the same, the increase in the price of the shopping basket has multiplied the interest in the food category to be able to save on their weekly purchases,” Gutiérrez closes.

The ranking of food products that lead the number of searches for offers and discounts is not surprising. In a report carried out by Shopfully Iberia, olive oil can be seen in first position, with an increase of 8% compared to the previous year, an increase noticeably lower than that of 2022 when it hovered around peaks close to 30%. And this is not only an essential ingredient in Spanish kitchens, but also a hallmark, a cultural theme, which is difficult to get rid of. Rounding out the podium are beer (18% of searches) and potatoes (95% of searches), the latter being the product that has varied the most compared to the previous year.

When reviewing the list, the appearance of beer and soft drinks like Coca-Cola lies, as in the entire ranking, in inflation. “Families have found the solution to the massive increase in prices in bars and restaurants: some prefer to consume at home. In the end, it is cheaper although it is not the same,” is Damián’s reading of the situation Gutiérrez, national manager at Shopfully Iberia.

Chicken breast and potatoes are the items that have registered the greatest increase compared to the previous year. “The constant growth of inflation has pushed families to search for alternatives to beef, fish, sweet potatoes… Hence the increase in these most basic and affordable products,” he comments.

On the other hand, society seems to have given up on salmon consumption. Even so, despite the 10% drop in the search for discounts, it is still one of the most consulted products on the offer pages.

Whatever the situation, consumers are clear: olive oil and ham are the two essentials that cannot be missing from the table.