From hand sanitizer and toilet paper to yeast and hair clippers: Here's how Americans' spending habits have changed after weeks staying at home
- Americans' shopping patterns have evolved over the past weeks while staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak.
- Nielsen data stretching back to the beginning of March reveals how their priorities have shifted.
- While hand sanitizer and toilet paper were among the first products to see huge sales spikes, shoppers are now also buying lots of baking yeast and hair clippers.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Americans' spending habits have evolved as the coronavirus outbreak continues and most of the US gets accustomed to life under stay-at-home orders.
Hand sanitizer, soaps, and aerosol disinfectants were among the first products to see spikes in sales when the coronavirus began to threaten the US at the beginning of March, according to Nielsen data. But as the outbreak has waged on, other products like baking yeast, spiral hams, and men's hair clippers have also gotten a boost.
Nielsen took total US dollar spend - both online and in-store - into account when compiling its data.
On its page highlighting its coverage of the outbreak's impact on consumer behavior, Nielsen outlined six different phases of spending related to the outbreak, starting with "proactive health-minded buying" and ending with "living a new normal." It placed the US and many other countries at stage five, which it called "restricted living" and defined as having severely restricted shopping trips and issues with online fulfillment and pricing.
Here's how American consumers' buying patterns have changed since the beginning of March, according to Nielsen:
Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email covidtips@businessinsider.com and tell us your story.Get the latest coronavirus business & economic impact analysis from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries.