We all know the sort of products that sold well during the lockdown but which ones specifically flew off the (online) shelves?
According to this year’s Shop, Live, Look report by retailer John Lewis, tents, fryers, trampolines and Crocs – the shoes, not the semiaquatic reptiles – were among the products that defined the last 12 months.
The report looks back at the products and trends that shaped the year, many of which are probably destined to be stuck in the loft or shed once/if things get back to normal.
The year of camping
Sales of tents were up 650% from the previous year, which suggests camping holidays in the UK were back in fashion, possibly for the first time since the 1950s.
Sales of Speedos – that’s swimwear, not a dial on your car’s dashboard – doubled, while sales of the aforementioned Crocs at John Lewis were up 79% year-on-year, driven, according to John Lewis, by the trend for wild swimming and Olympic gold medal diver Tom Daley’s skimpy trunks.
The need to keep the kids amused during the lockdown probably accounted for the sharp increase in the purchase of trampolines. John Lewis said sales of the lethal garden ornaments were up 270%.
For the adults intent on getting some exercise in, those Peloton “spin” bikes, so-called to differentiate them from square-wheeled bikes where the wheels don’t spin, proved popular.
Health concerns were also, perhaps, behind the 400% increase in sales of air fryers, those gadgets that cook your chips by blasting them with hot air.
On the other hand, sales of outdoor pizza ovens were up 195% and the best-selling oven outsold John Lewis’s best-selling barbeque kit for the first time, and there is not much that is healthy about pizza.
File under "working from home"
Conversely, John Lewis saw a sharp decline in the sales of travel accessories, such as passport covers, travel adaptors and suitcases.
The department store stopped selling filing cabinets as “storage goes digital”.
Has the paperless office finally arrived?
(I’ve just checked and my answer is: I don’t think so).
The work from home trend has devastated sales of ties, which is understandable but as for what is behind the decline in the sales of thongs – that’s underwear, not flip-flops, Aussie readers – who can say? Is the thong considered workwear?
(I’ve just checked and apparently, the answer is: yes, in some professions).
John Lewis said sales of two-in-one laptops – the gizmos with a detachable keyboard and a touchscreen – were also down as shoppers opted instead for laptops with bigger screens.
Outdoor becomes the new inside
“For those lucky enough to have outdoor space, their garden became their sanctuary and entertaining space over lockdown. Gardens were people’s parks, their gyms, their campsites, their festival fields, their outdoor cinemas and extensions of their kitchens and dining rooms,” the report from John Lewis said.
“Modular outdoor sofas sold strongly as people lounged outside. Sales of outdoor rugs rose 50% and due to demand, we have doubled the amount we now offer. Fire pits and garden heaters rose by almost 1,000% in October and November 2020 as lockdown rules meant we could only meet outside. Even the terrible British weather – the summer of 2021 was one of the wettest in recent memory – couldn’t stop people doing up their gardens. Outside genuinely became the new inside,” the report claimed.
Particularly if you became homeless during the lockdown …
The department store only started selling hot tubs last Christmas and they sold like … er … hot tubs, with sales peaking in April.
“Champagne and banging tunes are extra,” the report proffered. I am sure your neighbours will be glad to hear it.
Future trends may vary
Future trends predicted by John Lewis “Futurologist”, John Vary, include:
- Together Apart – online places where we can hang out with friends and family – rather than just talk at a screen – will go mainstream. Going hand-in-hand with this trend will be an increase in the popularity and purchasing of goods that exist only in the digital world.
- Nostalgia Tech – it’s easy to feel snow-blinded by the mass of digital content raging around us. What better way to counter this than by harking back to the audio and photographic technologies of old?
- Circular Economy – environmental concerns from the younger generations have been passed to the older ones and we are seeing greater consciousness about our planet in Britain’s households.