In Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic, Catalina Launches Interactive Map Showing How Shopping Decisions Vary State by State

Map Features National, Regional & Statewide Perspectives on Week's Hottest-Selling Categories, Which Currently Include Flour, Baking Mixes and Household Cleaning Supplies

Panic Buying Drops Nationwide as Foot Traffic in Stores Declines, While Basket Sizes Continue to Increase

News provided by

Catalina Marketing

Apr 03, 2020, 08:45 ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To demonstrate the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on shopping decisions and buyer behavior across the U.S., Catalina Marketing has launched an interactive map on its website. The map reports sales data across 78 major grocery and drug categories from states across the U.S., plus the District of Columbia, going back to the week ending Feb. 15 when coronavirus awareness and concerns really started to gain traction: https://www.catalina.com/insights/

"During this extraordinarily stressful time, we are pleased to share data from our Buyer Intelligence Database to demonstrate how buying trends and shoppers' behavior have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are using this information to advise our retail and CPG customers on how best to manage their marketing and supply chain decisions during the crisis, and to better prepare them for when the country and the world emerge from it," said Marta Cyhan, Catalina Chief Marketing Officer.

For the week ending March 28, 2020 – and for the second week in a row -- shoppers continued making fewer trips to grocery and drug stores nationwide -- while spending more per visit -- compared to the week ending March 14 and to the same period in 2019, according to Catalina. Total sales dollars per store continued to be up an average of 13% versus the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of shopping trips declined by 13% compared to the same period in 2019, even as the amount spent per visit increased by 31% over the prior year.

Top-Selling Categories Nationwide: Flour, Baking Mixes & Household Cleaning Products

With an estimated three out of four Americans now sheltering in place, the top 3 categories with the greatest increase in sales on a percentage basis show that people's interest in baking continues to surge, with flour sales up 154% and baking mix sales up 99% over the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, people's efforts to keep their homes free of the virus led to a 102% increase in sales of household cleaning products last week versus the prior year. Among the categories experiencing the greatest declines nationally were greeting cards (down 54%), chewing gum (down 41%) and beauty aids (down 36%) vs. a year ago.

About Catalina

Catalina, the leader in shopper intelligence and personalized digital media for CPG brands and retailers, has continued to mine its unparalleled Buyer Intelligence Database for the sixth consecutive week to track changes in shopping behavior as well as sales in hundreds of categories as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the U.S. and the world. Catalina's Buyer Intelligence Database captures up to three years of purchase history, and more than two billion Unique Product Codes that are scanned daily.

SOURCE Catalina Marketing