Data: What search trends reveal about shopping in lockdown

The landscape of search has changed during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Google reported that it has ”never seen as many searches for a single topic continue over a sustained period as is happening now with Covid-19” and searches related to travel, tourism, live entertainment and in-person events have crashed.

When comparing the search interest in all retail-related topics in comparison to coronavirus, it is clear that coronavirus has driven consumers’ hunger for information. Most recently, search trends have been shifting towards “how long will lockdown last” as people long to resume their normal lives.

Shifting online focus

UK retailers have experienced increased levels of demand for grocery deliveries, DIY tools and healthcare. Search interest trends show Amazon as the biggest winner. Already high demand rocketed as the retailer maintained fast and reliable service through the shock of lockdown. Fashion has been a casualty while consumers have been cooped up rather than painting the town red in their new threads, which can be see as interest in Next declined throughout mid-April before recently returning to still subdued levels.

Demand for healthcare items has increased during the lockdown period, including for hand sanitisers, medicines, vitamins and home grooming essentials. This graphic shows the changes in demand from Boots, which has kept stores open and provided customers with tips online, such as advice on home haircuts and how much vitamin D to take.

Similar to Amazon’s fastest-growing queries, which can be seen below, Boots’ fastest-growing searches mostly relate to cleanliness and medication. Hand sanitiser, a highly sought after item, jumped by almost 1,500%, while hair clippers soared by nearly 1,400% as men sought to neaten up.

Amazon’s prowess rewarded

Amazon’s sales and demand soared in the UK as consumers were locked indoors – the retail giant had to limit inbound shipments to its warehouses to focus on highly sought after medical products and other goods. Many of the products that generated the highest search growth, such as hand sanitiser and face masks, were given priority, while more discretionary items had much longer lead times.

As the coronavirus pandemic has continued, so have changes to consumer’s online search habits.

Data from Flywheel by Ascential shows that Amazon searches for face masks, hand sanitiser gel and thermometers ranked in the top 10 for the first time. Hair clipper searches have risen significantly as barbers are closed. Similarly, dog hair clippers and pet toys also showed an increase.

Although there was significant sunshine in April, consumers were spurred on by newspaper reports to take vitamin supplements to combat coronavirus symptoms. There was a jump in searches for vitamin D and much of the product was bought up completely.

In the home category, desks and office chairs remained popular items as people worked from home. Social media posts created a surge in home baking and interest in loaf tins soared as a result.

Interest in garden and DIY projects

With many consumers on reduced wages or made redundant, credit demand has ticked up and Very experienced a slight increase in search interest because that is a core part of its offering. eBay reported that exceptionally warm weather in the period covered led to “renewed interest” in garden furniture and garden improvement products. Google search interest rose for similar reasons.

Consumers have sought out home improvement and DIY product as home became the sole place of work and play for many.

Kantar data showed that 12.5 million households planned a DIY project during the lockdown and search data makes clear that B&Q has been the winner. The Kingfisher-owned retailer has now reopened its full store estate after having originally ceased all operations, including its website, in late March.

Customers seeking information on store trading

Queries about retail in general show the British public are not yet sure about how the lockdown has been eased and which stores they can access. There has been some uncertainty in the UK about what is considered ‘essential’ retailing and to make matters more confusing, some that were considered so, such as Homebase and B&Q, made the decision to close their doors until relatively recently.

The growth queries mostly relate to stores being open, and every query featured in the right-hand word cloud grew by over 5,000% compared to the prior year. It may appear quite odd that the highest-growth queries are variations of the same search, for B&Q store reopenings, but this reflects of the sheer volume in which consumers are seeking out home improvement and DIY compared to other sectors.

It will be interesting to see which of these trends stick as the UK slowly releases its lockdown restrictions. In the short-to-medium-term, it is likely that consumers will favour online shopping and seek to keep up many newfound skills and habits, but as the possibility of stores reopening becomes closer, will the data indicate a thirst for a return to bricks-and-mortar stores?