Ways In Which Our Spending Habits Changed During The Pandemic

The pandemic has hit us all very hard by forcing us to stay indoors until the virus strain weakens and the lion’s share of the population gets vaccinated. The threat of Covid showed us the world in a new light as the tourism industry received the biggest blow and working from home became the new normal. Such alterations also shook up our set notions of spending money on something and created a whole new set of winners and losers. Today we are going to take a look at the sectors which enjoyed a bullish ride amidst the raging lockdowns, courtesy of some research conducted by luxury online jewelry retailer The Pearl Source.

Exercise Gear

Being bound to indoor life has opened up the floodgate of health hazards ahead of us all. Working out is extremely beneficial to get our muscles pumping and heartbeat high in no time. Regular exercising has been scientifically linked with slowing age-related ailments like memory loss, osteoporosis and sarcopenia. Exercise is also known to bring down the risk associated with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. 

The first thought which comes to our mind while talking about working out are running marathons and doing push-ups. However, it need not always be so complicated as simply lifting some weights and walking can get your fitness meter rolling. Extreme times call for extreme measures and maybe that is why the exercise routines of modern day look substantially different from what it was like in the pre-pandemic era. 

Gyms have been shut down to break the chain of virus spread and so more and more people are seeking out the help of at-home equipment like treadmills. This trend is expected to remain as people can keep their fitness wheels rolling without having to shell out hefty gym membership fees. Maybe this is why the revenue generated from the health and fitness equipment industry amounted to 2.3 billion between March to October 2020. 

Jewelry & Watches

People always seem to have an extra budget for adding more watches and jewelry to their arsenal. The luxury retailers and brands were extremely hard hit by the pandemic. However, the wealthy section of the society with income to spare specially out of missed travel opportunities redirected the same towards bringing home more luxury accessories. A 48% rise was recorded in the sale of watches within the 50K to 100K dollar category between 2019 and 2020. Jewelry sales rose by 106% just in US between March 2020 and 2021. 

Personal Tech

The pandemic has been very gracious to the gadget industry. As people had to work from home setups, they wanted to mirror the feel of an actual office. This is why a sharp demand was felt in AirPods, Smart watches and other tech tools which could help people cater to their health metrics while getting the work done. 302 million desktop computers and laptops were sold in 2020 which came as a 13% increase compared to the previous year. Spending on ear wearables increased by 124% between 2019 and 2021.

Athleisure

People understood the requirement of staying fit and thus enrolled into online exercise classes. This created a massive demand for athleisure products whose sales increased by 84% since the start of the pandemic. 

Furnishing

Rising tension levels made it imperative to have a relaxing sleep session at night and wake feeling fresh the next day. This added impetus to the demand for premium mattresses and furniture which could get your slumber party started in no time. Online furniture sales jumped up by 47% in 2020 whereas mattress sales increased by 30%.

Alcohol

Alcohol came in as the surprise winner of 2020 as it brought out the inner party animal with flowing booze. People made such purchases mostly through online channels. But nonetheless, alcohol ecommerce sales went up to $5.6 billion in 2020 from just $3 billion in 2019. 

Final Words

Numerous offices around the globe laid-off employees to manage expenses. But even with the rising unemployment rates, people kept on spending on luxury items. This unique behavior was accredited to the savings made from not going on travel vacations. Be it a wardrobe revamp, designer handbags, glitzy jewelry or office tech, millennials didn’t shy away from splurging on these premium commodities just because of the feel-good factor it tagged along.