U.S. SHOPPING BASKETS SHIFT

At the height of the Extreme Shopping stage (March 11-21), consumers stocked up on toilet paper and cleaning products. Now that Americans are getting used to the social distancing life in the Home-Confined Buying stage, which kicked off on March 22, the more “usual items” are back on top of the list of buying categories; fresh vegetables, salty snacks, and cheese regained their positions higher on the list.

Sales of frozen meals remained uncharacteristically high as consumers continued to stock their freezers with reserves, and cheese jumped to higher levels as parents were left to fend for themselves to make children’s lunches. Consumers also gave into indulgences, gradually adding back chocolate, ice cream, cookies, beer and wine into their baskets over the weeks ending March 14, 21, and 28.