The Buying Habits of American Consumers During the Pandemic Reveals Increased Interest in Home Improvement

To say that 2020 has been a weird year would be an understatement. The pandemic has upended the lives of every person on the planet. Children have stopped going to school and have to receive their education at home from a computer screen. Adult workers are not going to offices, either, and try to have their meetings in the comforts of their living rooms via Zoom. Many businesses are still at reduced capacity and more have closed permanently. No big events are being held in fear of the public health threat by COVID-19.

People, therefore, are spending more time at home, and that is reflected by their purchasing habits in the past several months. There is a lot of renovation and improvement work happening across the nation during the pandemic.

A Sudden Shortage of Appliances

The pandemic led to an economic downturn that experts dubbed as one of the worst in history as millions of Americans lost their sources of livelihood. So many products outside of grocery necessities were not selling because the public had to tighten their spending in the face of a year of uncertainties.

Yet, many households bought appliances.

The demand was so high that, at some point in the last year, people had to wait for months to get their freezers and refrigerators. Some major household appliances had a shortage because of the sudden increase in demand coupled with the decreased capacity of factories as the pandemic continues to rage.

In most cases, the purchases were made out of necessity. Because people are at home, they are using these household appliances more often. As a result, items around the house are showing wear and tear.

Investments on Health and Wellness

Americans are also buying items that improve their health and wealth at home.

With gyms closed, many consumers have made the decision to acquire their own fitness equipment. Sales of fitness equipment went up in the past year.

Peloton, a company that sells stationary bikes, saw a surge in sales because of the closures caused by the pandemic. By September, sales of their products have experienced a 172%-increase as people scrape their gym memberships.

But, spas had to close down, too, to curb the risk of contagion among patrons. Consumers responded by doing their own do-it-yourself treatments and procedures at home.

There was an increased interest in wellness products, especially as many adults work from home. The remote setup is only ideal for those who have their own office or thrive in a more relaxed setting. However, most of the time, people do not have the right chair and table for hours of work. They end up with body pains. That is something that a high-quality Ocho massage chair can handle.

In addition, people also purchased weighted blankets to calm their anxiety and to help them sleep better every night.

For Work and Play

There was also a clamor in the past year for computer accessories. When offices shut down, companies continued operations through remote work which meant that, suddenly, employees did not have access to equipment that used to be readily available to them throughout the day.

There was a rise in sales for external monitors and laptop mice, especially around March. Although the market seems to have cooled, people are still on a mission to improve their home offices. The demand is still higher than the sales of home-office equipment before the pandemic.

The demand for computer accessories also increased among new gamers who are spending their free time playing video games. Nielsen found that 82% of all people around the world played video games or watched video game-related content during the pandemic lockdowns.

Video game companies were one of the few that did not just survive but benefited from the restrictions made to slow down the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.

A Bathroom Essential

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the public started raiding grocery shelves for essential goods. So many products were immediately sold out.

But, the clamor for toilet paper was unprecedented. People hoarded toilet paper. Even online, toilet paper rolls were sold out. Some had to buy toilet paper from strangers on eBay.

Consumers realized that they would not need toilet paper if they had bidets. Bidets were common in Asia and in Europe, but it has only started making waves in the U.S. According to reports, the interest for bidets among American consumers increased by 300% in the past year. Brondell, a company that sells bidets, reports that they expect their sales to rise by 40% in 2020.

The shopping habits of American consumers in the past year reflect how people are coping with the pandemic and the changes it made in everyone’s daily routines.