Guns, Groceries and News: What Sells in a Pandemic—and Doesn’t

             

By 

Gwynn Guilford

Updated March 24, 2020 11:31 am ET
Since the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a different pattern in what the U.S. is buying. There is a decline in hotels, restaurants, travel. Yet, grocery stores, guns, ammunition, marijuana suppliers, and general stores are all booming with sales. Overall, consumption is at a low. 
Spending patterns are constantly changing, even next week there will be different patterns. According to the stats, as of now restaurants are taking the biggest tank. Most restaurants are switching to having take out so they can still stay afloat since they can't have any customers dining in. 
Companies like Amazon, Walmart and Target have all profited from online sales. Switching to online sales helps the companies still have an income because they know in this crisis most of their customers are at home and do not want to leave to go to the store. Even if they do want to leave to go to the store, they want to make it efficient and only get what they need. Since customers are just getting what they need, it is hurting companies that sell big ticket items. For example the car market is suffering right now. People do not have any extra money right now to buy a car. 
Another market that is surprisingly doing well is the cannabis market. Only in the legal states is this present, but customers are stocking up while they are at home.
                                        
There has been a decline in the job market. Since companies are not financially staying afloat, they can't afford to grow their companies. Since they cant grow their companies, they cant hire new employees. Some are even firing employees, leaving unemployment high. 
                                          
All of these factors can change on the daily and depending on new news that is released to the public. Hopefully once the coronavirus is over, the economy will go back to how it was or even better. In the mean time, companies need to focus on how they can use their resources to be online and approach their potential customers in a way to benefit both parties. In this time it would be most appropriate to approach them with sincerity because this is a crisis for everyone right now.