No need for longer opening hours: Swiss

The research found that while younger members of Swiss society would like longer, more flexible opening times, overall the Swiss were against changing the current situation.

The report was commissioned by the website comparis.ch and conducted by the market research institute Link. It surveyed the opinions of 1,400 people across the country between the ages of 15 and 74 years.

When asked whether they were angry or annoyed by the current opening hours, only 18 percent of respondents said they were, while 82 percent said they were not, comparis.ch reported.

Over three-quarters of those surveyed said they would not extend the opening hours if they had a choice, while 18 percent said that they would, and the remaining five percent said that they would under certain circumstances.

“On the whole, the Swiss population is attached to its traditional purchasing behaviour,” Felix Schneuwly, spokesman for comparis.ch, said in a statement.

However, among the younger members of society, whose lives are increasingly shaped by competing demands and the need for flexibility, 42 percent said they would prefer longer opening times.

The study found that the tendency to want longer opening hours varied hugely according to age – of respondents aged 65 years or over, only six percent said they would want a change to the shop opening times.

Respondents were also keener for change depending on the canton, with people from cantons with stricter regimes being more in favour of extension than those that already have comparably longer opening hours.