EOS Studies - This is knowledge.

First the Covid-19 pandemic, now record-breaking inflation and an energy crisis: Times have been tough recently, for companies as well as for us as humans. How have consumers in Europe experienced recent months? The “Europeans in Financial Trouble?” EOS Consumer Study 2023 investigated how consumption patterns and payment behaviors are changing in the current economic situation.

For the survey, a total of 7,729 consumers aged between 18 and 65 from 13 European countries provided information about their financial situation. The survey took the form of an online questionnaire and was completed between February 3-9, 2023.

Europe’s companies need to act. Because the payment practices of customers are worse than ever. At the same time, new technologies and social changes are challenging conventional processes and business models.

What are companies doing so as not to miss the boat? How are they making their receivables management more efficient? How data-driven are their decisions – and what is the role of artificial intelligence in this context?

The survey “European Payment Practices”, which EOS conducted in 2022 for the 13th time, provides the answers to these and other questions.

The technology offers a lot of potential for communication and thus benefits not just companies and customers, but employees as well.

Two out of three companies in Europe are already using chatbots. The results of the recent Chatbot Survey 2021 by the EOS Group provide fascinating insights into how chatbots are currently being used and what expectations will be imposed on them in the future.

Around one in three Bulgarian consumers (32 percent) has incurred debt as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. At just under 68 and 33 percent respectively, most of them used the money they borrowed to cover their ongoing living expenses and health costs, while one in five used it for housing costs. 28 percent of respondents said they had debts of between BGN 2,001 and 5,000.