{"id":1694,"date":"2020-03-20T05:38:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T12:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.storagecafe.com\/blog\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2020-07-15T05:09:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T12:09:34","slug":"americans-plan-stockpiling-food-and-more-trends-in-online-browsing-in-a-time-of-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.storagecafe.com\/blog\/americans-plan-stockpiling-food-and-more-trends-in-online-browsing-in-a-time-of-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Plan Stockpiling Food and More: Trends in Online Browsing in a Time of Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last few weeks have been chaotic, to say the least. From a distant and diffuse threat, the coronavirus epidemic turned into a pandemic and became a worldwide emergency. The rapid pace at which the situation evolved has generated concern among many people \u2013 and, occasionally, even panic.<\/p>\n

Advice\u00a0from\u00a0government and\u00a0the\u00a0health authorities\u00a0urges\u00a0citizens to stay indoors as much as possible and <\/strong>to practice\u00a0so-called\u00a0\u201csocial distancing.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s no surprise,\u00a0then,\u00a0that\u00a0a good portion of Americans\u00a0have\u00a0wanted to make sure they have enough food and household supplies for\u00a0a few weeks.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a bad idea \u2013 fewer trips to the supermarket definitely help us reach that social distancing goal and reduce the rate of new infections. But don’t overdo it. Even in countries that were hit very hard, like Italy, stores and supermarkets have not run out of supplies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ordering\u00a0online\u00a0became more popular than ever\u00a0\u2013 in fact, Amazon is planning to expand its workforce by 100,000 to be able to meet demand.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0self\u00a0storage\u00a0professionals, we are monitoring\u00a0the\u00a0online activity\u00a0related to our industry, and we noticed a\u00a0considerable\u00a0spike\u00a0on a\u00a0particular term\u00a0associated\u00a0with it\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u201cfood\u00a0storage.\u201d\u00a0Google Trends quantifies interest for a certain term on a scale from 0 to 100\u00a0points. Zero means that very few people are searching for that\u00a0particular term, while 100 signifies peak interest.\u00a0While\u00a0interest\u00a0in\u00a0\u201cfood storage\u201d\u00a0normally\u00a0stands\u00a0at around\u00a040,\u00a0it\u00a0has\u00a0now spiked\u00a0to\u00a0100<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This sudden\u00a0increase\u00a0is\u00a0definitely related\u00a0to the\u00a0coronavirus pandemic, so we decided to check out\u00a0the\u00a0online\u00a0interest\u00a0for other\u00a0common products\u00a0and services\u00a0people tend to\u00a0buy\u00a0right now, from food to cleaning supplies to medicines. Here\u00a0are\u00a0the most\u00a0sought-after products\u00a0in\u00a0the online environment\u00a0during\u00a0this period\u00a0of emergency<\/strong>, lockdowns and reduced social contact\u00a0that is\u00a0happening\u00a0all\u00a0across\u00a0the US.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/span>People are stocking up on basic foods<\/span><\/h2>\n

If, one year ago, during the third week of March 2019, online searches for \u201c2 weeks supply of food list\u201d were basically zero, now the interest for this particular search term is spiking at 100, which means Americans are following advice from the authorities and taking steps to stay mostly indoors and isolated.<\/p>\n

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