blog | 2 min read

What Even Happened in Retail this Spring?

May 13, 2020

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In the months since Coronavirus changed the way we all live, retail has undergone massive shifts. The big picture isn’t pretty, with widespread store closures, layoffs, and furloughs.

But the effects of the downturn aren't uniform, and some brands are experiencing increased sales as consumers change how they shop.

We wanted to help retailers get a better understanding of how people are purchasing differently so they can adjust and plan for recovery.

That’s why we built the Retail Monitor (update: we've now sunset the Retail Monitor), a dynamic benchmark that aggregates anonymized customer data from over 100 North American retail brands across multiple verticals.

We just released a report detailing the insights from the past two months — download it here.

The big headlines:

  • Overall, retail is down 41% year-over-year, driven broadly by store closures

  • Apparel and Home/Jewelry/Leisure are the hardest hit sectors, while Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, and Footwear are seeing year-over-year increases

  • Social media is the most active channel for advertising, up 85% from last year

  • Mobile commerce is seeing gains of 23% up from last year, while non-mobile engagement lags

  • Demand and purchasing among consumers over 50 is declining less severely than with younger consumers

Read the report to get all the details on who is buying, what they’re buying, and how they’re doing it.