First went the hand sanitizer, disinfectants and toilet paper.
Now hair clippers and hair dye are flying off shelves.
In recent weeks, Americans’ shopping patterns are serving as a reflection of how the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve and affect daily lives.
“You can definitely see that as people have stayed home, their focus shifted,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the Today Show, Friday.
After stocking up on food and consumable products, shoppers turned to puzzles, games and other timeless forms of entertainment as well as education, he said.
Now, sales are showing that — without the ability to venture to a hair salon — folks are getting shaggy.
“People are starting to need a haircut,” McMillon said. “You see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.”
Here’s a look at how buying patterns have shifted in the last few weeks:
The first wave of heightened shopping showed consumers were buying up various means to protect themselves as the virus spread in the United States — masks, cleaning products and hand sanitizers.
During the week ending March 7, hand sanitizer sales skyrocketed 470% from the year before, according to Nielsen data. Aerosol disinfectant product sales shot up 385%.
Consumers nationwide were behaving as if they were preparing for a major storm.
“We are working to keep our shelves packed with products similar to when a blizzard is being called for and folks know they might be stuck at home,” Andrea Karns, vice president of sales and marketing at Karns Foods, a family-owned chain of nine stores in Pennsylvania, told CNN Business in early March.
