Mekkes instead of Mexican, U-Bahn instead of Uber, Rewe instead of health food stores – in times of high prices and a lack of economic well-being, many consumers are shifting down a gear in terms of consumption. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they are gradually relegated to the second or third consumer league in everyday shopping, suddenly playing poker with their wallets at regional rather than national league level. The Chinese have even created their own neologism for this slow consumerism with the handbrake on. They refer to the plight as „consumption downgrade“, in Chinese消费降级 xiāofèi jiàngjí (from 消费 xiāofèi „consumption, consuming“ + 降级 jiàngjí „to downgrade, downgrade, relegate“). In other words: you are simply passed down the shopping ladder.