Changes in consumer spending behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic across product categories

Abstract

We examine changes in online consumer spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we compare consumer spending on various product categories before the pandemic started to after. Unlike previous work, we not only look at the different consumer demographic profiles but also different product categories, providing a better understanding of spending behavior. E-commerce has been a favorite way of shopping for consumers before the pandemic, while some demographic groups were reluctant to use e-commerce. However, as pandemic-related restrictions on physical shopping were put in place, consumers found e-commerce the only way to shop for many essential products. As such, consumer online spending changed. We employ freshly released Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS) data on consumer spending by Statistics Canada. We examine the association between various demographic factors and the change in online spending empirically. Our findings indicate that, compared to their counterparts, younger consumers are more likely to have increased online spending on product categories related to internet connectivity and streaming services. Female consumers exhibit increased online spending on similar products, in addition to online learning services and home exercise equipment. Consumers living in urban areas exhibit a higher probability of increased online spending on computers, smartphone devices, internet connectivity, and food delivery services. Consumers with at least one child exhibit a similar trend. Larger households exhibit a considerable increase in the probability of increased online spending on food delivery services. Lastly, consumers with higher education exhibit a higher probability of increased online spending on products related to online learning and streaming services.