Consumer Wow Facts Of 2020
By: Magdalena Kala
Tags: Fun Facts, Consumer Behavior, Retail, Trends

Any time I come across a stat that makes me go “wow, I didn’t know that!” I write it down in a Google doc. Even though this year has mostly sucked, I’ve ended up collecting a new set of interesting and sometimes very random data points about the broader consumer world, from retail to gaming.

The list is fully subjective — what I find surprising might be old news to others, and vice versa — but I found great joy & learnings in it, so hopefully you will too!

IKEA decided to “stop producing its iconic catalogue, once the most-printed book in the world ahead of the Bible and Koran” (!). At its peak in 2015, “IKEA produced more than 200M copies;” current 2021 catalogue dropped to “just” 40M copies. (Financial Times)

(!). At its peak in 2015, “IKEA produced more than 200M copies;” current 2021 catalogue dropped to “just” 40M copies. (Financial Times) … but according to HBR , “response rates from catalogs have increased by 170% from 2004 to 2018 . One jewelry ecommerce retailer in HBR’s study found that catalog + email marketing group experienced 49% lift in sales and 125% lift inquiries vs. control, compared to +28% in sales and +77% in inquiries for email-only marketing (Harvard Business Review)

. One jewelry ecommerce retailer in HBR’s study found that catalog + email marketing group experienced 49% lift in sales and 125% lift inquiries vs. control, compared to +28% in sales and +77% in inquiries for email-only marketing (Harvard Business Review) ~⅓ of China’s internet population (or 309M users in June ’20) has viewed e-commerce live-streams; however, given resulting impulse buying behavior, buyer’s remorse is common — “ only 51.5% of those that had bought products through online live streams were satisfied with the goods they received ” (South China Morning Post)

” (South China Morning Post) “3 out of every 4, or 244 million, people in the U.S. play video games as of July 2020, an increase of 32 million people since 2018” (likely mix of COVID and increasing popularity across demos); gamers average 14 hours per week of playing time, up from 12 hours per week in 2018. (NPD)

an increase of 32 million people since 2018” (likely mix of COVID and increasing popularity across demos); gamers average 14 hours per week of playing time, up from 12 hours per week in 2018. (NPD) Netflix owns just ~3% of its most-watched content : “Of the 52.6 billion minutes of streaming TV compiled by Nielsen over the last six weeks [as of Oct ‘20], Netflix owns the copyright to just 1.6 billion of those minutes. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal owns 14.4 billion minutes (27.5%).” (Quartz)

: “Of the 52.6 billion minutes of streaming TV compiled by Nielsen over the last six weeks [as of Oct ‘20], Netflix owns the copyright to just 1.6 billion of those minutes. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal owns 14.4 billion minutes (27.5%).” (Quartz) Peloton’s average monthly workouts per sub doubled in fiscal Q4 ‘20 (calendar Q2 ‘20) to 24.7 (!) , compared to 12.0 in Q4 ‘19. (Peloton)

, compared to 12.0 in Q4 ‘19. (Peloton) As of September 2020, Twitter’s LTM revenue & profit ($3.4B revenue and $295M EBITDA) is higher than Shopify’s ($2.5B revenue and $59M EBITDA)!

($3.4B revenue and $295M EBITDA) ($2.5B revenue and $59M EBITDA)! Analysts estimate that Apple sold 15M AirPods in 2017, 35M in 2018 (133% YoY), and 60M in 2019 (128% YoY) ! Airpods-only revenue is likely roughly equal to Uber’s and higher than Adobe’s, Nvidia’s, and Spotify’s (Kevin Rooke)

! Airpods-only revenue is likely roughly equal to Uber’s and higher than Adobe’s, Nvidia’s, and Spotify’s (Kevin Rooke) “ 5% to 10% of the typical quick service chain’s orders are digital . Domino’s share was 65% [in 2019] and has since climbed to 75%.” (WSJ)

. Domino’s share was 65% [in 2019] and has since climbed to 75%.” (WSJ) According to Grubhub’s Year in Food report, spicy chicken sandwiches have been the top item of the year on the platform (orders +318%) ; chicken burrito bowls have placed 2nd (orders +299%) and chicken wings 3rd (+287%). ’Twas the year of chicken / comfort food. Also, “with more cities allowing restaurants to deliver alcoholic beverages, orders of cocktails, beer and wine grew nearly 300%.” (Food Business News)

; chicken burrito bowls have placed 2nd (orders +299%) and chicken wings 3rd (+287%). ’Twas the year of chicken / comfort food. Also, “with more cities allowing restaurants to deliver alcoholic beverages, orders of cocktails, beer and wine grew nearly 300%.” (Food Business News) Malaysia’s Karex Bhd makes one in every five condoms globally ; initial coronavirus shutdown in the country caused a production shortfall of 100M condoms in just one week (The Guardian)

; initial coronavirus shutdown in the country caused a production shortfall of 100M condoms in just one week (The Guardian) TSA “discovered more than 300 guns in carry-on baggage nationwide in July [2020], which it said is about 15.3 guns per million people screened. That’s up from the rate of 5.1 guns per million people in July 2019 even though air passenger traffic is down 75%.” ~80% of guns found in carry-on bags were loaded. (CNN)

even though air passenger traffic is down 75%.” ~80% of guns found in carry-on bags were loaded. (CNN) Armslist.com is a “Craigslist of guns” with 5M+ monthly visitors ; a 2019 study found that fewer than 10% of its postings mention a background check (The Verge)

; a 2019 study found that fewer than 10% of its postings mention a background check (The Verge) 97% of retailers (!) have been victimized by ORC (organized retail crime) in 2019 with losses averaging $703,320 per $1B in sales (PYMNTS.com)

(organized retail crime) in 2019 with losses averaging $703,320 per $1B in sales (PYMNTS.com) In a normal (i.e. non-COVID year), fashion over-production (due to poor supply/demand match) runs at 30–40% each season (Forbes); additionally, 20% of water pollution across the globe is is the result of wastewater from the production and finishing of textiles (Quartz)

(Forbes); additionally, 20% of water pollution across the globe is is the result of wastewater from the production and finishing of textiles (Quartz) Throughout the 2000–2013 period, Amazon added $38B in sales while Costco added $50B and Sam’s Club added $32B . “Amazon had the higher growth rate, but the bigger problem for most brick-and-mortar stores was other, larger brick-and-mortar stores” (The New York Times)

. “Amazon had the higher growth rate, but the bigger problem for most brick-and-mortar stores was other, larger brick-and-mortar stores” (The New York Times) Japan’s vending machine industry is 4.6 trillion yen ($44B); “ monthly sales volume of beverages across the nearly 3M vending machines in Japan dropped more than 35% earlier this year” due to the pandemic (Bloomberg)

monthly sales volume of beverages across the nearly 3M vending machines in Japan dropped more than 35% earlier this year” due to the pandemic (Bloomberg) In a signal of nostalgia-driven marketing trends, “Est.” (as in, “Est. 2020”) has appeared in trademarks at a rate 17x higher in 2020 than in 1980. Among 2020 trademarks, avg. year that follows is 1992 (28 years ago), while in 2000 avg. year that followed was 1939 (61 year earlier). (Marker)

Have a favorite fun/surprising consumer-related stat from 2020? Let me know!