Helium 10 Data Analysis Identifies the Lasting Impact of COVID-19 on Consumer Shopping

Consumer shopping and spending habits fundamentally evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, and lifestyle shifts have become increasingly evident through changes in online shopping. Helium 10, the leading all-in-one software and analytics solution for ecommerce sellers, today releases “Lysol, Luggage, and the Great Lockdown: What Amazon PPC Searches Reveal about Online Shopping during the Pandemic,” leveraging its powerful data capabilities to examine the volume of clicks sourced from PPC ads in Amazon search results.

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“Viral trends, cultural moments, and COVID-19 milestones influenced consumer behavior on Amazon during the two most disruptive years in recent history, and gave us data that paints a holistic view of how and when online spending patterns changed,” said Bradley Sutton, Chief Ecommerce Strategist at Helium 10. “Our mission at Helium 10 is to empower sellers with critical learnings to guide their ecommerce strategies. The insights and supporting analysis in this report help sellers better understand the Amazon consumer, and turn insights into actionable tactics that drive revenue.”

Below are highlights from the full report, examining how shifts in travel and grooming and pop-culture TV trends translated to changes in behavior on Amazon.

Going Nowhere
Unsurprisingly, the pandemic disrupted travel, grooming, and education as quarantine restrictions were put in place across the globe and schools were forced to embrace remote learning. Click volume on Amazon for luggage, backpacks, and shaving kits saw an expected drop-off in 2020, but the data also points to distinct periods where quarantine patterns began to shift.

• Clicks for luggage related products saw a 573% increase in July 2021 compared to July 2020, accurately reflecting the rebound in airline travel observed when global restrictions eased
• Year over year click volume for shaving kits increased by 28% as the world began to open up again, and the public parted ways with their quarantine beards
• As schools reopened and businesses implemented hybrid models during Fall 2021, click volume for backpacks increased by 32% compared to August 2020, though still trending lower overall compared to 2019

Ongoing remote and hybrid approaches to education across the country kept consumers from fully investing in back-to-school items like backpacks. But consumers were ready to hit the road in 2021 as click volume for luggage rebounded even past 2019’s April high.

Despite 2020’s grooming lull, Helium 10’s data suggests shaving kits continue to increase in popularity as holiday gift items, indicated by a 155% increase in click volume during December 2021 when compared to October of the same year.