As the stress of finals and COVID-19 begin to settle in, I thought I’d examine something interesting this week (or at least, interesting to me). I was fascinated as to why toilet paper is such a top selling item that should not be in as short supply as it is. It is understandable that people would want to buy hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks, but the toilet paper scare took everyone by surprise. Yet, every person who scoffed at how ridiculous it was has also been frantically searching for it at one point in this virus because supply is so low. Therefore, I wanted to see what the buying trends were for the average American at this time to determine if there were any other odd purchases.
This chart taken from CNN, demonstrates these current buying trends. The top four items are not surprising, as they are considered essentials. However, I am surprised that clothing and beauty products are so high in the list. No one is going anywhere, so buying clothes, jewelry and other products seems strange. I also assumed electronics would be higher, along with toys and games. Parents with smaller children would want to keep their kids entertained, so I do not understand why there was not an increase in those buying patterns. Overall, this chart was pretty predicable but some of the trends took me by surprise.
Christina's Creations 