New figures from the Central Bank show that spending on groceries last month recorded its largest ever increase.
The Central Bank's Credit and Debit Card Statistics show consumers spent €373m, or 43%, more on groceries in March compared to the same month last year.
This reflects stockpiling by shoppers in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The figures also show that spending on transport was down 56% while spending on accommodation sank by 55%.
Spending in restaurants and on entertainment were down 31% and 17% respectively. But spending on utilities was up 23%.
In another sign of changed spending patterns, e-commerce expenditure was up 11%, or €185m, last month compared to the same time last year.
Cash withdrawals at ATMs continue to decline, down 56% on the first week in March.
Overall, the Central Bank found that spending is far below normal levels.
It has seen the decline in spending beginning to level off in the middle of last month and said expects total spending, including ATM transactions, to be down 39% in April.
Monthly retail sales slump 12.7% - CSO
New Central Statistics Office figures show that retail sales slumped by 12.7% in March compared to February as all but essential shops closed during the month in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
This marked the largest monthly decrease since January 2009 and came on the back of a 53.1% drop in bar sales while sales of clothing, footwear and textiles tumbled by 49.2%.
The March figures also showed that car sales slowed by 30.7%, while sales of books, newspapers and stationery fell by 29.2% and department stores sales decreased by 25.8%.
The CSO's data captured the gradual shut down of most businesses last month to slow the spread of Covid-19/
But sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (excluding supermarkets) grew by 17%, while supermaket sales rose by 14% as consumers stockpiled food and other groceries amid the spread of Covid-19.
Sales of hardware, paints and glass were up 13.3%, while pharmaceuticals and medical products rose by 8.8% and sales of electrical goods were up 5.9%.
The CSO said that online sales represented 4.3% of the total turnover for all retail businesses, the highest online share since collection of this breakdown began in November 2018.
Today's figures show that when car sales are excluded, the volume of retail sales decreased by 1.9% on a monthly basis and were down by 0.6% on an annual basis.
