Lockdown learnings: Skincare and baking and towels, oh my!

For anyone who loves getting into the nitty gritty of numbers, the months of March and April sure have been a ride. Data, in such clear language, signifies the ways we as a society behave. When a global pandemic hits, it’s safe to say that the resulting changes in our behaviour will prove enthralling. As much as we’ve loved tracking the rises and falls, we’ve loved celebrating our client’s wins even more. Understanding how to spot opportunities in the data is just one of the things we do for our clients at Vine Digital.

But let’s run you through the facts. 

62% of Australians surveyed by Google said, “I am looking for something every day to stay positive”. 52% believed self-isolating would allow them to try new things. For many, as you can imagine, that little burst of positivity and newness comes in the form of a postal package. The majority of retail categories have seen growth as a result.

Which categories are most important to Kiwis? In the midst of a health crisis, naturally the answer is health and wellbeing, with 70% of respondents selecting “my family’s health and wellbeing”, 41% answering “my mental wellbeing” and 29% prioritising physical fitness. Our pharma clients have been absolutely key in this time, as Kiwis focus on wellness. According to Stackline data, sales in “digestion and nausea” has seen a 144% increase, while the Cough & Cold category saw a whopping 535%. In March, one of our pharma clients tripled their visibility on Google search and saw organic traffic jump from a monthly average of 1700 in 2019 to 2900 visits per month in 2020.

Staying at home and investing in some self-care has proved a popular activity for Kiwis, with the health and beauty sectors also seeing positive results. In the month of April, body lotion sales have grown by 79%, and eczema and psoriasis care products have jumped in sales by 90% according to Stackline data. According to Google Retail Market insights, skin care related searches have grown by 105.17%. Case in point: a client of ours sells body lotion, and their keyword rankings have gone from 16 to 40 between March of 2019 and 2020. Their website’s visibility on Google search has doubled since 2019, and average organic monthly visits have gone from 2,800 (2019) to 3,400 (and counting!) in 2020. 

Caption: YoY revenue for bedding retailer

As New Zealand turns into a nation of lock down homebodies, naturally the retail and eCommerce industries have continued to thrive during April. Evidently, as consumers pass the time by bedding down and watching Netflix, many are also taking the opportunity to revamp the linen closet. In the case of this bedding retailer, by keeping a strong online presence with an aggressive Google shopping PPC campaign, they hit a record-high in online sales this April and increased their average monthly revenue by 156%. There are certain changes you can make to equal this success in your own business. Chrome Dev Summit data reports that 54% of customers quit checkout if they are asked to sign up. 92% give up if they don’t remember a password or username. Removing these roadblocks to the finish line could result in more conversions, as could including a navigation menu at the top of your store (it has increased sales by 5%!).

Have you noticed any interesting data you’d like to share? If you have, or if you’d like to have a chat about how your business can grow in this time of unprecedented change, give the team at Vine Digital a call. With years of collective experience in digital marketing, we have the deep knowledge to support your ambitions.