Across the USA, South America, and Europe, every country is at a slightly different stage of the Covid19 pandemic. But we’re all behind the East, and particularly behind China.
We asked JD.com – China’s largest retailer – what we’re likely to see coming up in the West on the basis of purchasing patterns in China as the Covid19 pandemic hit, during lockdown, and in the period after lockdown lifted.
JD.com have more than 360 million customers, 700+ warehouses, and were at $82.9billion net revenue in 2019, so the sample size on these stats is huge. If you’re working in Ecommerce in the west, do pay attention as the ‘post’ pattterns are likely to repeat in your part of the world.
Consumption trends over the Covid period – from JD.com
You’ll note above: Some stats are month-on-month, some are year-on-year. If you’re in the west currently, from the above, it’s likely that post-lockdown you can expect to see increases related to:
- offline shopfitting sales, as small businesses pick up again and refit their shops
- home renovation services, as tradespeople resume
- additional sales of laptops, as people move back from working at a single desk to travelling around
- automotive supplies & peripherals
- team sports equipment. Whereas solo, indoor sports are popular during lockdown, broader sports supplies resumed afterward, including fishing supplies.
- mobile phone sales increased.
- large home goods continued to sell, as people adjust to the post-lockdown period but still spend a large amount of their time at home, more cautious around travelling, and deciding to spend holiday/travel budgets on the home.
Thanks to the team at JD.com for the insights – do follow @JD_Corporate on Twitter, as one of the few genuinely useful corporate ecommerce twitter accounts around, and one representing a business generating close to $100bn revenue.
