Since the deadly outbreak of Covid-19, there have been cases all over the world of panic-stricken consumers rushing to supermarkets and filling their trolleys with everything they can get their hands on.
We’ve mainly heard about the toilet paper crisis, as people stocked up on this precious commodity. As a result, toilet paper manufacturers have been working overtime in an effort to keep shelves stocked, and avoid further violent conflicts in supermarket aisles. Yes, that’s right. People have been fighting over toilet paper! What has the world come to?
Thanks to research by Nielsen, the global leader in retail data, we now have an even clearer insight into the latest buying habits of American consumers.
According to their study which compared the US dollar sales of a range of products for the first two weeks of March 2019 with the same two weeks in 2020, they found an astonishing increase in demand for a variety of products. Here are just a few!
Source: Nielsen
As the US, like many other countries around the world, begin large scale lockdowns and self-imposed quarantines, it is no surprise that people are panic buying when faced with such uncertainty. That being said, everyone needs to calm down. The supermarkets are going to stay open, and if we all just buy what we need (like we usually do!) the shelves will stay full.
To finish on a lighter note, there was one product which caught my eye as demand seems to be plummeting. Can you guess what it is? Scroll to the bottom to find out!
THINK LIKE AN ECONOMIST!
Click here for the source article
ANSWER: SUN SCREEN! Sales were down 17% in the week ending March 14th.
