Are You Positioned for Long Term Structural Change?
We’ve all been reading about product categories that are hot due to the forced changes in lifestyle that are brought on by the quarantine: home air and water purifiers, slow cookers, air fryers, counter-top grills, home organization, etc. Those products are moving through Amazon, grocery stores, national chains that sell groceries, home centers and, of course, manufacturers’ websites. How much of this behavior is temporary and home much will become permanent?
Despite the three largest metropolitan areas being on virtual shutdown, consumers are still buying. We just received results of a survey conducted by one of our research partners this past Thursday, March 19th. The survey asked 500 people nationwide a series of questions on the Covid-19 virus. Here are the highlights:
The last nationwide social upheaval in the US was in 2008 when gas prices soared and fears of the housing bubble began to take shape. The mood at the time gave rise to a need to cocoon in the warmth and safety of the home and to stay home to avoid spending money as people feared for their jobs and economic security. Sound familiar?
We applaud the IHA’s decision to cancel the show. With the virus already in sixteen states and most European countries and 90,000 worldwide infected and with its long incubation period, there was a high probability that there would be innocent carriers at the show and that many more would have come away with the virus, carrying it home to family and coworkers. It was the right call and, no doubt, a tough one.
