A recap of 2020 Shopping Trends

How can 2020 shopping trends inform the future of your organization?

Given the current state of affairs, it’s almost impossible to imagine that the first online purchase occurred nearly 25 years ago. Since then, online shopping trends have been increasing steadily year over year with Absolunet reporting that now the “average US household receives a parcel every 3 days.”

2020 obviously saw a sharp increase in online sales due to the pandemic. JP Morgan offers an interesting breakdown of what people bought more of (hair color, medical supplies, coffee, household cleaners and vitamins) and what they bought less of (cosmetics and suncare).

We all attempted to buckle down and turn our homes into offices, schools, and recreational spaces which likely saw us making purchases we otherwise wouldn’t have. PYMNTS.com reported Home Depot said “Net earnings clocked in at $4.3 billion, up some 22.8 percent from $3.5 billion a year earlier.” Bulk purchasing and pantry stocking became broadly practiced across all consumer generations as well. (I’ve yet to have someone mention trying to buy toilet paper without responding with an eye twitch.) Even the surge in pet adoptions occurred largely online due to limited numbers of individuals being allowed inside shelters to file applications.

The increase in online shopping made us rapidly aware of supply chain weaknesses. Even the behemoth Amazon saw issues in hitting their famed two day Prime delivery. Resultantly, consumers and influencers took to the web to find Amazon alternatives to getting essential items safely delivered in a reasonable timeframe.  

Sparing you any more 2020 Bingo buzzwords, we can suffice it to say that previous predictions were correct: online shopping grew in 2020 and will only continue to do so.