Mid-March marked the first week of nationwide quarantines. At that time, The Hollywood Reporter reported that U.S. video game usage during peak hours had increased 75% from the week prior, and that video streaming and overall web traffic had increased by 12% and 20% respectively.
The restaurant industry’s performance continues improving with October posting the best same-store sales growth results since the beginning of the pandemic. But there are some reasons for concern that the industry’s recovery has stalled in recent weeks and may be a sign of things to come. October’s same-store sales growth represented only a small improvement from the -8.1% growth reported for September.
It’s prime time for online shopping. Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it would shift its annual Prime Day from mid-July to mid-October in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New sales data shows that Amazon Prime Day 2020, which took place on October 13 and 14, outperformed previous Prime Days while also ushering in an increase in online sales at other major retailers.
COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of the restaurant industry, with quarantine and shelter-in-place orders leading some to increase the amount of food they’re ordering in, while others hesitated to have any contact with even delivery workers.
2020 was a banner year for madness in the retail sector, but even amid the pandemic that upended much of the ecosystem, there were bright spots. And none shined brighter than the home improvement sector led by industry giants Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Halloween 2020 likely looked a bit different this year than in previous years. With COVID-19 remaining a looming threat, many people found creative ways to still celebrate the holiday in a socially distanced manner. Walmart was the clear winner when it came to online Halloween chocolate sales among merchants.
After one year of Disney+ being live on the app stores, Apptopia estimates it has been downloaded 100 million times globally, with 62% of those coming from the US and 38% from international markets. Global numbers do not include India, where Disney+ is built into the Hotstar app.
In this Placer Bytes, we dive into two department brands and look at Ross after its expansion announcement. September produced a much-needed break from the stagnant traffic levels JCPenney had seen since the recovery kicked off in earnest for the brand in June. Visits were down 35.8% year over year, buoyed by Labor Day weekend, a welcome improvement over the three months prior when visits were down an average of 43.6%.
Hotels globally performed better in the third quarter, but the improvement proved to be only less bad, as COVID-19 continues to roil the world. U.S. hotels in Q3 achieved a gross operating performance per available room (GOPPAR) of $-9.87, which was 58% higher than the GOPPAR recorded in Q2, but 110% down from the same period a year ago, according to data from HotStats.
Footfall to UK supermarkets has so far dodged the second wave slump, with Huq’s Index recording levels higher than last year over the last week whilst all other consumer sectors dive and supermarkets on the continent see attendance cut in half.
In this post, we dive deep into McDonald’s and express some of the reasons we believe the brand is poised for an exceptional bounce back. But, because At Home has been so exceptional of late, we couldn’t dedicate the full blog to McDonald’s and left some space to laud this rising home goods giant.
India has overtaken the United States to be Snapchat’s #1 market for downloads (new users). It took 15 months (from May 2019 to July 2020) for India to go from the #6 market, representing 4% of Snapchat’s downloads, to the #1 market, representing 20% of its downloads. That lead has been increasing as October 2020 saw India represent 32% of Snapchat’s downloads.
It’s no secret that B2B marketing was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Business that relies on in-person connection simply couldn’t remain unaffected by social distancing regulations. But while industries looked different this year, they certainly didn’t stop moving.
When we put together our expectations for who would dominate the coming holiday season one group that stood out were wholesale clubs. It seems that the unique nature of the current retail environment was well-suited to these brands. And while we felt like a surface-level analysis was good, a deeper drive was required to emphasize the point and provide a better lay of the land.
In this Placer Bytes we take a closer look at one of retail’s top performing brands in CVS, and dive into two that have experienced recent struggles in Tuesday Morning and Party City. A few weeks back we analyzed the pharmacy sector and saw CVS dominating against other brands. And, it looks like its recovery is showing no signs of slowing down.
One of the most consequential elections in modern history, both the Presidential race and several Senate races could determine the course of the country for a generation. Moreover, the battle for votes has become a measurement of digital ad dollars. That makes Facebook, with over 190 million users, and Instagram, with 126 million users, prime territory for political ads.
In this Placer Bytes, we dive into the remarkable recovery of Planet Fitness, Hibbett’s positioning ahead of the holidays, and dive into why Gap might be moving out of malls. Planet Fitness has been leading a wave of top fitness chains that are enjoying a strong bounce back. And yet, the brand’s impressive performance may actually be even better than it appears at first glance.
For the fifth straight year, Amazon Prime Day created excitement among consumers with discounted offerings for customers opening their wallets at the cloud cash register. While Amazon has not yet self-reported a final tally, according to Envestnet | Yodlee data, the event was a success, leading to an average spend per customer (or “ticket size”) of $76 during the event versus $74 a year ago.
Challenges in the energy sector are numerous and persistent. These challenges are perhaps most evident in the US energy sector, where strained prices and weakened demand have accompanied months of reduced travelling for professional and personal reasons. Bankruptcies are increasing. Some firms are doing better than others, yet few are in great shape.
Amazon Prime Day — one of the biggest online shopping events of the year — has come and gone, moving to October this year from July. This event, originally 24 hours long, has now expanded to a 48 hour savings extravaganza. As last year’s Edison Trends report about Prime Day 2019 sales had shown, the event has consistently led to record-breaking sales, and this year was no different.
