Brief Ecommerce Sales Updates for May 2020

The month of May could bring a continued increase in ecommerce sales as the United States begins its stages for re-opening. Digital advertising has stabilized throughout the month of April, despite a decline for some companies in March. We are seeing a rise in marketing engagement as May suggests a promising path to begin recovery. Digital connection and online shopping continue to be an important avenue for everyone to stay in touch with loved ones and get through social distancing.

However, we still have to learn from the daily data to understand how customers search and shop. We have to consider how shifts will impact online shopping behavior and ecommerce sales. We round out April by looking at the year over year changes for Pets Supplies and Tools and Hardware ecommerce categories from April 27 and 28, 2020 compared to April 27 and 28, 2019.

Pet Supplies Ecommerce Sales 

At the onset of the outbreak in the United States, people were stocking up for their pets as much as for themselves. Pets provide their own level of mental and emotional support, especially during times of crisis, as pets can help people be healthier. 

Overall, the Pet Supplies retail industry has been experiencing sustained year over year growth in their ecommerce sales. Earlier in the week, NetElixir’s Intelligence Lab found the followed daily shifts in ecommerce sales for the Pets Supplies retail industry:

• Website conversions have increased over 50%.
• The number of transactions increased over 150%.
• The average order value (AOV) increased by 11%.
• The percentage of mobile orders increased 15%.

We could all use some extra love and treats during these difficult times, so be sure to continue expressing your appreciation to your companions.

Tools & Hardware Ecommerce Sales

While homebound, people intend to do more chores around the house. With spring weather finally arriving, we have seen a rise in gardening during the outbreak, which falls under our Tools and Hardware retail industry. As hobbies sustain us during the coronavirus outbreak, we have seen an increase in ecommerce sales for the Tools and Hardware retail category. But people aren’t just shopping online – local gardening stores have also increased their sales.

Based on our research, NetElixir has seen the following changes in ecommerce sales for the Tools and Hardware retail category from earlier this week in April:

• Website conversions have increased nearly 90%.
• The number of transactions increased over 175%.
• AOV increased by nearly 50%.
• The percentage of mobile orders has had a slight decrease of 1%.

As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, our hobbies, our pets, and our connections to each other will continue to get us through this crisis and allow us to emerge stronger together.

Additional Insights

We will be hosting a new webinar series, starting Tuesday, May 12 at 2 PM ET. Our X=Experience: Expert Series pulls together previous speakers from our annual X=Experience event to provide insights and research on how the coronavirus is impacting different fields. Our first webinar of the series on Leveraging AI, Data, and Tech Platforms To Understand Health Pandemics will be presented by Anindya Ghose. Register now.

Our Covid-19 Updates Webinar series can be viewed in its entirety. The schedule is as follows:

1. March 11: The first of the series on tracking the impact of the coronavirus on ecommerce sales and online shopping behavior
2. March 26: Meet our first Retail Superhero, Parag Shah, the Vice President of Grocery at Wakefern Food Corporation for Shoprite, and learn over a month’s worth of research
3. April 9: Our third update featured UPS’s President of SMB and US Marketing, Gerard Gibbons, for a live Q&A
4. April 23: We detailed over two months’ worth of research and introduced Kaki Zell, Co-Owner and Vice President of Ames Walker for a story of innovation in the apparel industry

While we have covered an extensive dataset, it is by no means exhaustive. Please email us at shareinsights@netelixir.com for specifics into your category.

Further Reading on Ecommerce Sales Updates During Coronavirus

You can join the conversation on social media using #NxInsights.

For further reading, you can see our prior retail analytics updates on retail ecommerce and online shopping behavior:

• Brief Retail Analytics Updates Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, from Wednesday, April 29
• Apparel Industry Leader Weighs in on Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak, from Monday, April 27
• Retail ECommerce Throughout the Coronavirus Outbreak: April Updates, from Friday, April 24
• New Online Shoppers During the Coronavirus Outbreak, from Wednesday, April 22
• Welcoming an Apparel Story of Hope and Innovation During the Coronavirus Outbreak, from Monday, April 20