RetailZoom:Exploding categories for the Domestic Chains

In our latest article we have shown how the outburst of the Corona Virus has completely changed consumer shopping habits in the Domestic Chains (and everywhere else) in just a few days. Now let’s take a closer look at which categories have driven that change: not surprisingly, in preparation for the quarantine period, customers’ first choice was building heavy stocks in raw materials/basic cooking products: Flours have seen an increase of 165%, Yeast have grown by 160%, Sugar by 98%, Rice by 101%, Pasta by 70%, Canned Food by 135%, various meat categories also by 3-digit. In fact, these huge increases might not even reflecting the real surge in consumer demand in these cases, as retailers – clearly unprepared for this sudden storm of customers, are not having appropriate replenishments in place to meet demand. We have all witnessed the empty shelves for some of these categories since the outbreak of the Virus. An interesting phenomenon we are seeing is, that as popular and “first choice” segments in Meat Category have been emptied from the shelves (Chicken, Pork), people upgraded in large numbers to the available – but highly premium segments, like Duck, Goose and Turkey, hence, also resulting in 3-digit intensifications.

As a matter of fact, the number of the categories that have produced at least a 30% increase in the first half of March, are more than 80, meanwhile only 38 categories have shown negative tendencies across the Hungarian chains.

Of course, some non-food categories have also “exploded” in the last two weeks: hand sanitizers have basically disappeared from the shelves after just a few days, soap/hand wash have grown by 84%, body-care by 70%, other hygienic categories by more than 60%.