The strong franc is pushing more Swiss to buy their food and clothes abroad, hurting the local economy with an estimated loss in turnover by SFr3.2 billion ($3.9 billion), the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper reported this week.
The newly published research by retail consultants Fuhrer & Hotz also found top earners are turning to cross boarder stores and shopping malls as much as those people who traditionally more thrifty shoppers.
Up to SFr2.5 million were spent on food purchased in foreign shops, especially in discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl, it said. About 58 percent of consumers bought clothes abroad.
The study was based on a questionnaire of 1,000 people.