How Will Amazon Buyers’ Habits Change After The COVID-19 Crisis?

At its peak, the pandemic was certainly the largest factor that guided both the global economy, as well as individual shopping habits of everyday people. Now that the pandemic is subsiding and hopefully soon to be in the rearview mirror, we can try and piece together the effects and lessons from this very turbulent chapter in history. We can also make some predictions as to what lies ahead.

The good news is that people have been relying heavily on Amazon throughout the pandemic. The fact that we had to stay quarantined at home has made online shopping a very logical way of handling this. Amazon has proven to be an essential part of our everyday lives, as can be seen by how much of the public’s interest has been focused on making sure that Amazon remains functional.

As a result of this , there have been some extremely significant rises in demand that can be noticed throughout most Amazon markets.

Personal Health Items

It is no surprise that people have been buying face masks and disinfectants. Even to this day, these are some of the most in-demand products across the globe. At this point, though, the demand is being met, unlike at the initial stages of the pandemic. We’ve all seen the various price gouging scandals and people trying to sell in-demand items at a high markup.

Now, as things are getting more stable, we can expect that demand to drop significantly. However, many people have actually gotten more conscious about bacteria and germs. This is why it’s wise to be on the lookout for other, personal health related trends, since face masks and disinfectant are already well-saturated at this point.

Home Exercise Equipment

While we have all been trapped inside our homes, it has been crucial to do as many healthy things as possible to nourish our mental health and deal with isolation. Many people have turned to working out in very creative ways in order to compensate for the fact that the gyms have been closed. Also, people that work out regularly l are not the type of people that just accept the circumstances and pause for the virus.

This is why we’ve seen a surge in sales of all types of home fitness items. This includes things like dumbbells, yoga mats, exercise bands, benches etc. However, we can’t expect this trend to continue, since people that usually work out in gyms will simply go back to them. Others that only recently picked up the habit of working out during the quarantine will most likely follow suit, unless they continue working out at home.

Overall, when you compare working out at home to working out at the gym, or doing outdoor activities like running, swimming, cycling and hiking, home workouts are rather unexciting. There is no real reason for the demand to be higher in this category than it was before the pandemic.

Home Office Equipment

Due to the circumstances of the pandemic, many people were forced to work from home. Naturally, people did their best to create a productive work environment. In fact, many people as well as companies, have actually seen the benefits of working from home, as well as having meetings online instead of in person. Using the AMZScout Pro Chrome Extension, we can see how the demand for this compact adjustable laptop desk has risen, and continues to rise despite the subsidization of the virus:

Gardens And Backyards

If you were lucky, being stuck at home didn’t necessarily mean you weren’t able to go outdoors and get some fresh air. Some people have gardens and backyards. Which is why we saw significant rises in sales of all types of products related to gardening, such as gardening tools, seeds, pots etc. Along with this, a lot of people have been buying more patio and garden furniture.

Amazon has been making an effort to make buying furniture on the platform more commonplace, and this has certainly helped. Gardening is also a habit that you can’t exactly drop when you get bored, as plants are living things. The point is that there are a lot of new gardeners, and also, people are getting accustomed to buying furniture on Amazon. Amazon will try and encourage sellers to get more into these categories. In general, gardens and furniture are niches you should be keeping your eye on.

Home Cooking

Selling items related to cooking has always been a goldmine for private label sellers. You might be happy to hear that people have gotten really keen on home-cooking during the pandemic. Baking bread has become especially commonplace, and so flour has become one of those things that simply disappears off the shelves as soon as it comes in. If you are a prolific home-cook, you know that once you get accustomed to making food for yourself, you are not likely to go back to ordering in or getting fast food. Basically, this is the best possible time to look into home-cooking items.

In conclusion, the pandemic has shown the old saying “where there’s a will, there’s a way” to be true. People have been put into unusual circumstances and have adapted, as humans have been known to do. Many people have had to find ways to either fight boredom, or compensate for a lack of some element of their lives that the pandemic made inaccessible.

As the world is starting to come back to normal, some of these habits will remain. If you are an Amazon seller, it’s your job to make some educated guesses, back them up with some data, and get new ideas for products. Amazon, along with the rest of the world, will move on from the virus. As a seller, you should do the same and make the most you can out of the aftermath.

[post-cta]

If you liked this article and would like to engage with other small business entrepreneurs selling on marketplaces, join our . You can also find us on , , , and or sign up for our newsletter below.