Freezer Frenzy – COVID-19 is changing the way we buy

We all know that the pandemic is changing the world, and the way we interact with others, but it’s also changing the way we buy.

Social distancing, shelter-in-place orders, and the shuttering of non-essential businesses across the world have changed day-to-day realities for billions. In the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, few aspects of life remained untouched – and consumer behavior is no exception.

Consumer spending comprises 70% of U.S. GDP, and not surprisingly, virus containment efforts have devastated many sectors of the economy. Companies in travel and food services have been hit especially hard, with several industries and well-known companies seeing double-digit year-over-year sales declines.

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USA Today and 24/7 Wall St. have compiled stats, media reports, and press releases to determine the economic impact of COVID-19, and they found that not all businesses have suffered in recent months. As many of us are confined to our homes, products and services designed to pass the time have seen sales skyrocket. Check out the full article here.

Milk

  • Change in sales:5% increase
  • What it means:3 more glasses of milk weekly per capita. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans consume 146 pounds of milk per capita annually, or about 275 – about five cups per week. If sustained, the recent surge in demand for milk would mean Americans have increased their consumption of milk to about eight cups per week.

Walmart

  • Change in sales:20% increase
  • What it means:6 more visits to Walmart per American annually. An estimated 140 million Americans shop at Walmart every week. According to one estimate, Walmart gets 4.4 billion visits per year – or about 13 visits per American every year. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Walmart sales surged by 20% year over year in March as Americans stocked up on household items, groceries, and appliances.
  • Check out Danby products available at Walmart in Canada here.
  • Check out Danby products available at Walmart in the US here.

Video games

  • Change in sales:65% increase
  • What it means:5 new video games purchased per gamer. As the vast majority of Americans are confined to their homes in an effort to contain the coronavirus, video game sales have soared. Consumer spending on video games jumped 65% in mid-March from the same period last year.

Puzzles

  • Change in sales:370% increase
  • What it means:Puzzle lovers are doing 4 more puzzles than usual. A recent survey revealed that about half of all American adults complete at least one jigsaw puzzle per year. If concentrated among puzzle lovers, this sales increase could suggest that about 122 million American adults are now doing almost five puzzles per year rather than one.

Beer (and other alcohol)

  • Change in sales:42% increase
  • What it means:6 more pints per week among beer drinkers. Nearly 160 million American adults drink alcohol, and beer is the beverage of choice for 43% of them. According to data from Nielsen, beer sales jumped a staggering 42% in the third week of March, right after stay-at-home orders went into effect across much of the country. This would suggest that beer lovers are drinking six additional pints of beer per week, a total of 20. This also means they need somewhere to store it! If you’re looking for a beverage center or mini fridge to house this influx take a look at all of our Danby models here!

Airline tickets

  • Change in sales:96% decline
  • What it means:About 3 fewer flights per person annually on avg. Under normal circumstances, every day in the United States, some 2.7 million airline passengers board more than 44,000 flights, according to FAA data. In total, nearly 986 million tickets are sold per year, or about three per American citizen. At an annualized rate, this pandemic has reduced airline ticket sales per capita from about three to just 0.1.

Frozen foods (cookie dough and pizza)

  • Change in sales:454% increase (cookie dough), 92% increase (pizza)
  • What it means:1,094 more cookies per person, and 8 more pizzas per household. According to a 2015 poll, Americans consume an average of 18,928 cookies over the course of their lifetime. Applying the sales increase in frozen cookie dough to lifetime cookie consumption in the United States, this means American adults now eat a total of 104,681 cookies – or an additional 85,933 cookies – over the course of their life. In a typical year, Americans consume about 1 billion frozen pizzas – or about eight pizzas per household. Americans have been stocking up on nonperishable foods, with sales of frozen pizza climbing 92%. This means each household is consuming about 16 frozen pizzas per year – eight more than usual. That’s a lot of food… and you’ll need somewhere to store it. Click here to view our full lineup of freezers.

Freezers

  • Change in sales:As high as 500% increase
  • What it means:1-in-10 households purchase a freezer in 2020. As Americans are trying to reduce social interaction and going to public spaces, it has become prudent to reduce the frequency of trips to the grocery store – and freezers are a great way to lengthen the shelf life of perishable products like bread, meat, and vegetables. Big box retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s have noted the spike in demand for freezers, with some local operations reporting sales surges as high as 500%. Last year, freezer sales totaled about one for every 60 households. According to a Consumer Reports survey of major retailers, freezers could be out of stock until late August. Again, click here to view our full lineup of Danby freezers.

Amazon

  • Change in sales:23% increase
  • What it means:13 more items sold annually per Amazon Prime customer. Amazon reported $170 billion in sales in North America in 2019, which, assuming a $30 average item cost, amounts to 57 packages sold per year for each of the 100 million Amazon Prime customers in the U.S. According to some analyst projections, Amazon sales are expected to spike 23% in the first quarter of 2020 as Americans are more leery of venturing out of their home to shop. With more online shopping and patio deliveries, comes more porch pirates. Learn more about how to protect your parcels, and your home, with the Danby Parcel Guard.

Toilet paper

  • Change in sales:123% increase
  • What it means:We all know this story.