Across the US, spend has been slowly but steadily increasing as businesses reopen.
Key Takeaways
Back in mid-March when COVID-19 first began sweeping through the nation and states began enforcing measures to flatten the curve, Edison Trends noted that some of the sectors hardest hit included rideshare and certain DTC brands. Since our last rideshare report in March, some states are beginning to open up (despite the advice of health officials). To see where rideshare is nationally, as well as in the top US cities, Edison Trends took a deep dive into more than 900,000 Uber and Lyft transactions across the country to see how spending has changed since March.
How has COVID-19 impacted consumer spend on rideshare services?
Figure 1: Chart shows estimated spending on rideshare services across all of the US from December 30, 2019 - July 12, 2020, according to Edison Trends. Note: The highest spend per week/vendor was set to 100, and all other values were scaled accordingly. This analysis was performed on over 900,000 Uber and Lyft transactions.
Looking at national rideshare trends, the gradual recovery of the industry is obvious. Both leading merchants have now regained about 25% of the ground they lost since their high points earlier in March. This slow but steady increase began mid-April and has continued since then, although spending from late June to early July showed a bit of a drop.
How does spend on rideshare services vary among some of the largest US cities?
Figure 2a: Chart shows estimated spending on rideshare services across New York from December 30, 2019 - July 12, 2020, according to Edison Trends. Note: The highest spend per week/vendor was set to 100, and all other values were scaled accordingly. This analysis was performed on over 170,000 Uber and Lyft transactions.
New York has seen the biggest rebound of these four cities, with rideshare taking back 36% of its lost ground. Rideshare has been growing at an average of 8% per week in New York since the week of April 13.
Figure 2b: Chart shows estimated spending on rideshare services across Chicago from December 30, 2019 - July 12, 2020, according to Edison Trends. Note: The highest spend per week/vendor was set to 100, and all other values were scaled accordingly. This analysis was performed on over 44,000 Uber and Lyft transactions.
Rideshare spending in Chicago has continued to rebound - currently, it is up 29% of the distance it fell from its high point in February to its low point the week of March 30. Much of that ground was regained in June. During the week of June 1, Uber spending surged 55% over the previous week; however, in the week of July 6, it did fall 15% from the previous week. During the week of June 8, Lyft spending in Chicago increased 52% over the previous week.
Figure 2c: Chart shows estimated spending on rideshare services across Los Angeles from December 30, 2019 - July 12, 2020, according to Edison Trends. Note: The highest spend per week/vendor was set to 100, and all other values were scaled accordingly. This analysis was performed on over 69,000 Uber and Lyft transactions.
In Los Angeles, rideshare spending has rebounded 18%. Much of this growth happened the week of May 18, when Uber and Lyft rose by 22% collectively over the previous week, and the week of June 8, when they rose 25%.
Figure 2d: Chart shows estimated spending on rideshare services across San Francisco from December 30, 2019 - July 12, 2020, according to Edison Trends. Note: The highest spend per week/vendor was set to 100, and all other values were scaled accordingly. This analysis was performed on over 30,000 Uber and Lyft transactions.
San Francisco has seen the smallest rebound of these four cities, coming back only 12% of the distance it fell between its high point in February and low point in late March and early April. It saw its greatest growth the weeks of June 8th and June 15th, when spending rose 17% and 18%, respectively. Since then, growth has steadied and dropped slightly.
To learn more about the data behind this article and what Edison Trends has to offer, visit https://trends.edison.tech/.
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