The coronavirus outbreak is evidently impacting different industry sectors in markedly different ways. Here we take a look at some of the sectors that are being most impacted by the pandemic.
Last updated: 31st May 2020
Jump to: Retail | Travel | Gaming
Microsoft Advertising – COVID-19 insights and resources for advertisers
Microsoft has pulled together regularly updated insights and trends per industry, designed to help marketers to make informed decisions for their business.
SimilarWeb – Global Impact of the Coronavirus on Sectors and Industries (updated 7th April)
This useful whitepaper covers the impact of the coronavirus on the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, and Israel. The report is designed to offer a real-time assessment of the reverberations on consumer and business behaviour in the wake of the growing coronavirus outbreak.
The report is helpfully broken down by market and category, providing valuable insight into how particular brands and categories have seen their website traffic fluctuate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retail
Think with Google – Rising retail categories
This interactive tool is designed to help you understand fast-rising retail categories in Google Search, the locations where they’re growing, and the queries associated with them. You can currently view data for Australia, Brazil, France, the UK and the US.
Emarsys – COVID-19 Commerce Insight
Emarsys has created a platform that brings together online engagement data of more than one billion consumers worldwide, interacting with approximately 2500 brands, to provide an up-to-date view and trends of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online retailers.
Vogue Business – Digital fashion surges in a sales downturn (14th April)
Whilst e-commerce sales for apparel are down, digital fashion apps are on the up. This Vogue Business article looks at apps like Forma, a virtual try-on app, and games such as Drest – and the opportunity they present for fashion retailers.
The State of Fashion 2020: Coronavirus update
The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company have put together an updated version of their State of Fashion report, to look specifically at how the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating wider shifts in the fashion industry, and how retailers might respond.
Lyst – ‘Stay At Home’ Searches
Global fashion search platform Lyst is tracking the effect of coronavirus on our online fashion searches, including which brands and products are most searched across different markets. Lyst will be updating this page regularly to share the latest insights from around the world.
Adobe – Digital Economy Index launch (31st March)
Adobe has launched its Digital Economy Index, which analyses trillions of online transactions across 100 million product SKUs in 18 product categories. Among the trends driven by the coronavirus crisis is the fact that ‘Buy Online, Pickup In-Store’ increased by 62% year over year.
Google Shopping Insights
Google’s Shopping Insights tool is designed to help retailers understand what shoppers are looking for in your category, and how this is evolving over time, which is particularly useful in the current context. The tool is currently only available for the US market.
Access insights
Nielsen – COVID-19: Tracking the impact on FMCG, retail and media (updated 24th March)
Looking to China, Nielsen’s research talks of a new retail environment emerging there, with “consumers who might have been hesitant to embrace online shopping previously, older generation consumers of for fresh purchases, have now trialled it and experienced the benefits so will unlikely revert to their old patterns” – according to Ryan Zhou, Vice President CPG for Nielsen Connect China. Based on learnings in China and other markets, Nielsen also highlights some ways in which retailers might consider responding to shifting consumer demands – including being transparent about local origins, and leveraging the power of technology.
Travel
SimilarWeb – COVID-19’s global impact on the travel industry
SimilarWeb has put together a white paper that examines how different travel players in different regions and countries are coping with the spread of the virus, as well as which providers are starting to see some small signs of hope.
Statista – Coronavirus: impact on the tourism industry
This dossier provides some of the most recent data relating to the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on the global tourism industry, including insight into revenue, spending, employment, bookings, and more.
View dossier [free sign-up required]
Statista – Global change in travel and tourism revenue due to COVID-19 (24th March)
Statista also offer a wealth of data and charts that put a spotlight on the expected impact of COVID-19, including this chart that shows the expected change in travel and tourism revenue due to COVID-19.
Find more statistics at Statista
Ipsos – Optimism and Anxieties during COVID-19 Outbreak (13th March)
Turning once again to China for an indication as to how consumer sentiment may evolve, this Ipsos deck provides a handy overview, claiming that 45% of Chinese consumers will wait until there are no new confirmed and suspected case worldwide before they resume their travel plans.
IZEA – Coronavirus Impacts on Influencer Marketing (18th March)
From its survey of 900+ US consumers, IZEA found that, despite ongoing travel restrictions, consumers are still looking for – and would consider booking – future holidays. In fact, 55% of those who travel for leisure 5+ times a year say they are ‘likely’ to or ‘may’ book future travel and holidays while confined to their home due to coronavirus. Unsurprisingly, bookers expect either considerable discounts or increased flexibility if booking more immediate trips.
‘Is it safe…’ search trends – March 2020
Looking at search queries starting with ‘Is it safe…’ in March 2020, consumers are understandably concerned about the safety of travelling to different destinations, with areas that have been particularly badly hit by COVID-19 such as Italy featuring highly.
Gaming
SuperData – Worldwide digital games market: April 2020 (22nd May)
Game spending reached a record-breaking $10.5bn in April 2020, with both mobile and PC recording strong year-on-year growth, presenting exciting opportunities for games developers and advertisers alike.
Business of Apps – Gaming community app downloads and revenues rising rapidly (3rd April)
Data from Apptopia reveals that game live stream and communication apps such as Twitch, Mixer, Caffeine and Discord have all seen their app revenues increasing rapidly during the first quarter of the year.
If you would like any specific insights related to the coronavirus pandemic or more widely, get in touch to see how our Strategy & Planning team might be able to help.
