Rebecca Cooper
There is a lot of uncertainty in the air, as many eCommerce businesses worry about the impact and aftermath of COVID-19 and how it is going to affect their business. Amongst all this concern, there have been some positive impacts for a few lucky industries who have seen an uplift in sales during this period.
Let’s take a look at some of the industries which are booming during the Coronavirus Pandemic:
Home & Garden Improvements
Due to social distancing regulations, many of us are stuck inside our houses more now than ever. With more time on our hands at home, many have taken to home improvements as a way to entertain themselves during the Pandemic.
This, coupled with an increase in home improvement videos trending on social media, equals a boost in sales for many retailers operating in this sector.
As the graph below highlights, there has been a steady increase in Google Shopping related search queries for “Home and Garden” in the past 30 days, as opposed to this time last year where we saw a steady decrease.
*Based on data from GoogleTrends (Y.o.Y Comparison)
Food & Drink
It’s no surprise that Food & Drink made this list due to the increase in panic buying since the outbreak. Many online supermarkets have been struggling to keep up with demand, some even having to shut their sites down temporarily to deal with the amount of traffic.
*Based on data from GoogleTrends (Y.o.Y Comparison)
This has also been advantageous to smaller retailers operating in this sector, as they are seeing a hike in traffic for many of the products they are selling. Usually, at this time of year, retailers would see a slight decline in searches on Google Shopping, however this month this traffic has increased.
Fitness & Beauty
As the gyms close, and the only source of entertainment outside the house is going for an hours worth of exercise a day, fitness and beauty have both seen surges of online traffic.
Many retailers are selling out of fitness equipment, and the price of used equipment is doubling through popular marketplaces.
*Based on data from GoogleTrends (Y.o.Y Comparison)
As well as keeping fit, many of us have turned to our phones for entertainment. The musical social media app, TikTok, saw an 18% week-on-week uplift in downloads in the US (March 16-22). With hashtags such as “#beauty” getting 10.4B views and many of the “products on the rise” Google searches being products featured in trending TikToks, it’s no surprise this has boosted the searches on Google Shopping.
Gaming & Entertainment
Running with the theme of entertainment during lockdown, many people are looking at new ways to entertain themselves inside. Unsurprisingly, this has increased sales in the gaming & entertainment sector, where it would usually be declining at this time of year as more and more people go out and enjoy the nice weather.
*Based on data from GoogleTrends (Y.o.Y Comparison)
Conclusions
Although many retailers are concerned about how the virus might affect their businesses, there are some opportunities created by the circumstances with increases in online traffic.
Some of the larger retailers who typically dominate Google Shopping are having to pull out due to them being unable to keep up with demand, most notability being Amazon, who have slashed the amount of spend they are putting through the channel. This gives other eCommerce Retailers a golden opportunity to fill the gap of the larger retailers on Google Shopping, allowing them to grow and scale at a much faster rate.
Bidnamic expects there to be more movement towards online sales, as everyone has no choice but to move to online shopping for non-essential goods. We expect more purchases to remain online as a result, even after the lockdown restrictions are lifted, making now the perfect time to focus on your online strategy to get ahead of the competition.
For more information on how Bidnamic could help you unlock your full potential on Google Shopping, click here.