Red, White & Food - NCSolutions

Although the fourth of July looked different in many ways this year, two things remained true: Americans like to celebrate the holiday with fireworks and food. 

While consumer fireworks sales more than doubled, food shopping looked very similar to how it looked in 2019. It’s those traditions – like that of a grilled hot dog with ketchup on Independence Day – that Americans are clinging too in a time of great uncertainty.

With ongoing health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 causing folks to limit social and public interactions, purchases did increase slightly this year over the previous. Pie, which practically shouts “America!” remained a popular choice for the holiday. Both filling and pre-made crusts have seen disproportionately high sales figures for the past several months. 

According to 87% of ad executives that responded to a recent survey, flexibility is the name of the game in contract negotiation this year. And advertisers are adapting to a much shorter schedule for planning and approving campaigns. So for those of you finalizing your Labor Day plans, remember the following:

• American buying habits are reflecting a desire for tradition. It is likely shoppers will return to products they’ve had during summer events in the past.
• Consumers are continuing to cook more at home, recreating the traditional holiday party with their own families and among smaller groups of friends. This means more people are cooking.
• Everyone loves pie.

Stay tuned for more COVID-19 related shopping data, or give us a shout if you’d like the ability to make more strategic, data-driven tactical decisions.