Two weeks have passed since all non-food related stores have been closed down over coronavirus.

The measure of "stay at home" has forced people to resort to online shopping. That doesn't only take place on huge American online retail portals, but also here at home in Luxembourg.

Letzshop groups Luxembourgish stores and shops and enables their customers to continue shopping online. Our colleague Monica Camposeo investigated how this site functions in such an extraordinary moment in time.

The platform has existed for half a year, but demand surged only in the past week, says Jerry Klein, project manager: "Sales have multiplied by 10 or 30 times over. All shops that are part of this platform have the chance to continue selling their products. Those that continue business are really growing their sales."

Letzshop used to charge each participating store €500 a year, but that will be changed as of now: "The fees will be dropped for the year of 2020. We want to give stores a little boost, and convince more to join."

A total of 290 stores are now active on the platform, including furniture stores, Bookstores, and food shops.

On the first day of the crisis the shop received between 400 and 500 orders per day, now that has balanced out at around 150 to 200.

What's the most purchased item?

"We have noticed that people really enjoy working in the garden in this period. So products including high pressure cleaners and bark mulch are sold a lot. What's also interesting to note is that new food shops which have joined, offering for example chocolate or cheese, are already selling on their first day, rather than only after several weeks once people have found out that they exist on the site. Everything has sped up," explains Jerry Klein.

Usually online shopping is only a minor addition to the regular sales in physical stores, but now the platform is one of the only ways for local businesses to stay in business until their doors open again.

Vulnerable groups can still order through corona.letzshop.lu or call the hotline number 8002 9292 to pass on their list of necessities.