Plummeting sales of gum, energy drinks, and makeup reveal what people ditch when they stop going into the office

• As Americans are staying at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, their spending habits have changed.
• And now that so many are no longer going to the office — whether that is because they were laid off or furloughed or they are working from home — certain items are not seeing the same demand that they would usually.
• Coffee, energy drinks, and gum are among the products taking a hit.
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The coronavirus outbreak has brought some big changes to Americans' spending habits.

With millions of Americans out of work and facing an uncertain economic future, many are choosing to cut their spending on nonessential goods. Additionally, many Americans who are working are doing so from home, which is further altering what they are purchasing.

According to Erik Rosenstrauch, CEO of retail marketing agency Fuel Partnerships, there hasn't been much demand for coffee outside of the home in recent weeks. He referenced data from analytics company Sense360 that measured which products or categories consumers have reported out-of-stocks or availability issues for in recent weeks.

"A lot of that is that so many people that probably were commuting to work or would have stopped for coffee on the way to the office, that's no longer happening," Rosenstrauch said, adding that at-home coffee drinking doesn't seem to have made up for losses at quick-service coffee shops.

Energy drinks haven't been a popular buy amid the pandemic, either, likely for the same reason.

"Inherently, most people using an energy drink are doing it either to wake themselves up to get to the office or to be an afternoon pickup, and people aren't doing that," Rosenstrauch said. "Your entire life has changed. You're not trying to get a pickup in the middle of the day at the office, you're home."

According to Nielsen, sales of chewing gum were down 34% for the week ending April 11, compared to the same week a year ago. Lip cosmetics were down 61.7% for the same week as much of the beauty category, including perfume, has struggled. These products are likely a lot less useful to people who are no longer in close office quarters with coworkers on a daily basis.

People are also buying fewer products that only make sense to purchase when spending time outside, like sunscreen and shoe inserts and insoles. Sunscreen was down 64.9% the week ending April 11, and footcare was down 60.3%.

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