The April Barcode: Stress-baking and popcorn are the new norm
Image credit: Sensibill
The Barcode Report delivers the world’s deepest and most relevant insights on everyday consumer spending. We break down spend data into digestible and actionable facts, highlighting key trends that go beyond what you’d learn from simple card statements. We leverage item-level receipt data accumulated from millions of users across our network of banks, credit unions and technology partners. The Barcode dives beneath the surface of “how much was spent and where” and provides a true look at what consumers and small businesses are spending their money on.
In our April 2021 Report, we’re focusing on not only what consumer spending reveals about the new pastimes nurtured during the pandemic, but also how consumers have been recreating experiences they’ve been missing.
Key Highlights & Takeaways
Stress baking wasn’t a niche behavior but something that was broadly experienced, with spending on baking-related items tripling per person during the pandemic.
Although movie theaters had to close during the pandemic, consumers’ desire for the movie experience remained - spending 37% more on popcorn during lockdown than before.
Looking at item-level spending, we see how money spent on popcorn shifted from theaters to grocery stores, contributing to a 20% increase in popcorn-related purchases in-store.
Stress baking isn’t just a social media trend
There was a surge of videos early in the pandemic showing people baking to relieve stress, but was this just a visible subgroup, or a broader trend? By looking deeper at the items on each receipt, we see how consumer spending shifted as they started spending more time indoors. The changing size of these spend bubbles from pre-COVID to mid-COVID lockdowns shown here reveal that spending on baking-related items tripled per person!
Grocery item spend comparison over time
Pre-COVID spend. Source: Sensibill Data Lab
What we also see here is that consumers aren’t just baking more snacks, they are buying more snacks too, with an average snack spend per person increasing by 88%.
During COVID spend. Source: Sensibill Data Lab
We’re Netflix-and-eating popcorn
When we looked closely at the rise in snack spending, we learned that consumers’ top snack item was popcorn. Not only was this the top snack item pre-COVID, but it also remained number one throughout 2020, with consumers spending 4x as much on popcorn as on other snack items. Not only that—the average person is spending 37% more on popcorn now than pre-COVID.
Average spend per person on snacks
Source: Sensibill Data Lab
It seems we really miss going to the movies
To gain a better understanding of popcorn spending, we worked backward from the item to the merchant and saw that consumers buying popcorn before 2020 were frequently doing so at the movies, with 43% of pre-pandemic popcorn spending coming from cinema merchants. As movie theaters were forced to close, consumer spending on popcorn flowed to grocery stores, which saw in-store popcorn purchasing increase by about 20%.
Interestingly, consumers haven’t given up recreating their movie-watching experiences, continuing to buy popcorn via movie + food packages offered by theaters to the tune of $5 per person on average.
Popcorn Purchase pre-COVID & during COVID
Source: Sensibill Data Lab
P.s. Check out our latest press release to learn more about our monthly Barcode Report, and subscribe here to get the Report to your inbox every month 😏