The Top 5 Industries Booming During Quarantine — UNBXD

You are probably thinking that now is the worst time to start a business, and in some respects that is right. However, many sectors have seen a huge boom that no one could have expected.

Consumer spending habits have drastically shifted overnight. Rather than spending money on meals out with friends or holidays, people are spending it in their homes, baking, working out and catching up with the ever expanding range of streaming services available.

Analysing over 400 clients, ‘Mention Me’ has broken down exactly where consumer spending has gone. In no particular order, here are the top 5 sectors with the most growth during the lockdown.

Primal is taking so many orders they have had to extended delivery estimates

Health & Fitness:

You have probably seen this on your social feeds over the last few weeks but the at-home fitness market it booming. Spending power in the sector is growing like never before, rather than watching YouTube videos and doing bodyweight exercises, people are investing heavily in at-home gym equipment. Fitness equipment brand ‘Primal’ went from 1 day delivery to 4 weeks at one point and has even had to close their online store multiple times to catch-up with orders.

People who are key workers or are still having to travel for work are also investing in alternative modes of transport such as E-bikes. UK based folding bike company ‘Brompton’ estimates that sales are up over 15% across the industry.

This growth is echoed across the industry, even the supplements market has also seen major growth. Supplement giant ‘My Protein’ can see orders take up to 3 weeks to be delivered due to the amount of orders being placed. There is one sector that isn’t enjoying this boom however, the clothing industry has taken a major hit as stores close and people don’t need to buy new clothes; this crash has also been seen in the health and fitness community with sales up to April falling 34%.

Gits & Occasions

Lockdown and Mother’s Day came at the same time this year, which forced consumers to rethink how they were going to treat their mums.

If you think about a normal Mother’s Day, most consumer spending is spent at restaurants, pubs and bars. Due to these companies being asked to close to help prevent the spread of the virus, people used their spending power on gifts that could be delivered straight to their doors. In fact, spending on chocolates, wine, flowers and personalised cards increased an incredible 122% year-on-year. Even after Mother’s Day, spending in this sector is up 44% compared to 2019.

Oaktree Garden centre is now offering Plant Deliveries.

Home & Garden

As you can probably imagine, people spending more time at home means they are looking around their house and seeing things they need to do, or renovate. This is another sector that has seen a dramatic uptake in sales, 55% more in fact than last year.

The growth in this category can be contributed to many different things. With so many people now being forced to work from home, people are spending money on desks, chairs and home office equipment. Plants have been a major contributor to this, people spending time in their gardens and ordering plants for relatives who can’t leave their homes has skyrocketed. Oaktree Garden Centre in Bracknell have seen a huge increase in demand for plants and garden products, significantly higher then this time last year - you can even see this upward trend on social media as people flock to garden centre social channels to place orders and ask questions.

Food & Drink

This one seems easy to imagine, people are spending more on food than they do at Christmas. People are eating at home more which means they are needing more supplies. Thankfully, panic buying has slowed and people are becoming more comfortable with the current situation.

Drink sales are also up, with the government determining alcohol and an ‘essential’ item, people are ordering more than ever to their homes. Both Food and drinks uptake can be attributed to the amount of delivery options now available. Supermarket giants are hiring more people to deliver than ever and popular apps such as ‘Just Eat’ are letting their delivers pick up food from any local stores that are open.

It’s import to note that the rise in spending for Food and Drink is only for home-consumption, the commercial dining market has been decimated. With almost all restaurants, pubs and bars closed, 40% of the market has almost completely collapsed. In the US, milk industry giants (who are already facing issues with the ride in Milk alternatives) are now dumping almost 30% of their milk produce as there is no longer a market for it.

Beauty

This is an interesting one, even as the clothing market is seeing huge drops (48% drop for men’s clothing), the beauty sector is up 37% year over year! So, why are these 2 markets so different?

Beauty, especially make-up, has become a hobby for many people. The sudden abundance of time and the ability to be artistic with make-up means people are using beauty products to fill their time. We are sure YouTube tutorial channels are seeing a similar spike in traffic as top beauty brands.