Consumers are purchasing products online now more than ever as a result of COVID-19. Though many cities have started to reopen, there’s an expectation that a percentage of consumers will still be reluctant to visit public places until illness rates go down and/or a vaccine is discovered. Therefore, it’s important not to ignore digital distribution channels while consumers are spending less time in conventional retailers like grocery and convenience stores.This is especially true for brands launching new products because many sales meetings are being implemented remotely and several retailers have pushed back store resets for the time being.
Recent data supports that there is a lot of opportunity for brands to increase online sales with a solid e-commerce strategy put into place. RBC Capital Markets reported that 55% of Americans ordered groceries online in March. Walmart reported their e-commerce business grew 74% in the last quarter, including a 400% increase in new customers using online grocery pick-up and delivery since mid-March. Similarly, Target experienced a 282% increase in digital sales and a 1000% increase in purchase pick-up sales compared to the same period in 2019 and 40% of their customers were new to these services. The most pervasive online retailer is Amazon, who owned 66% of online purchases in March, according to RBC Capital Markets.
Since Amazon owned more than half of sales in recent months, we analyzed the e-commerce giant’s best sellers list in June and found the following trends:
Value is important. Amazon best-sellers include value-sized packages of sparkling and enhanced waters, energy drinks, sports drinks and snacks. Top brands and products include Sparkling Ice, Bubly, Welch’s Fruit Snacks and Go Go Squeeze.
Keto products are in demand. A variety of keto-friendly products are among the best sellers. Keto cookies, cereal, snack bars and meal replacement beverages made the list. Top products include Highkey Keto Mini Cookies, Highkey Keto Protein Cereal and Atkins Keto Friendly Caramel Nut Chew Bar.
Consumers are cooking at home. Several options for baking yeast and gourmet spices for barbecuing made the list. Better-for-you ingredients like low-carb almond flour and monkfruit sweetener have also been on the list for several weeks. Top products include Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener, Blue Diamond Almond Flour, FreshJax Premium Gourmet Organic Spices and Seasonings and Fleischmann’s Instant Dry Yeast.
