INSIDER INFORMATION
COVID’s impact on the UK laptop market In the first of a new series, Wickus Bester analyses data from Stock in the Channel to reveal trends in the market. Here, he looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the UK laptop market.
the lockdown. Searches picked up again back to its pre-lockdown level in June, corresponding with the return to schools and offices. A definite upward trend can be seen thereafter, leaving PC’s 50% more popular in November 2020 than in the previous year. The story for laptops is slightly different, starting with one interesting caveat that is missing from PCs – a massive spike in demand in March 2020. The number of searches surpassed the same day in February 2020 by nearly 315%. Thereafter, as we began settling into the new norm, searches declined back to previous levels. Comparing these two categories, you can see the initial rush of users scurrying to get a laptop. The UK was entering a period where it was uncertain when, and whether, workers would return to the office. This correlates with the spike in interest in buying laptops, and thereafter – the halt. Markets closed, streets empty, the world at home bar essential workers. The search data can attest to that – on both categories, we see search values fall to the ground in that time. Searches for laptops boomed again in October 2020, as a new lockdown began, reaching the same peak as the first time. This time, searches declined more slowly than the sharp dip after the first lockdown surge and maintained a level well over 200% of its pre-lockdown stature, showing that second time around, people seemed more prepared to adapt to the changes. There was also less impulse buying, as users had a calmer response to the impending work from home directive. It is also interesting to note the regular dips in searches around the Christmas period throughout
No doubt you’ve heard this before: the past few years have been monumental and ‘the times, they are a-changing’. It’s a familiar story, as are stories on how the financial, social and personal aspects of our lives have been interrupted by the coronavirus. But how does this story present itself when we remove our own experience? Can we see the whole pandemic unfold from a purely analytical viewpoint? This is what we have been doing at Stock in the Channel, and I want to share this with you in this series on the changing PC market during the pandemic. I have poured over the data, stared at loading screens at it churns through more than 57 million lines of product entries, and now can bring you the results. But first, here’s another one you should have heard before: ‘not seeing the forest for the trees’, and I’ll make a point of steering clear of that fate. In this part, we will look at the first lockdown to see the bigger picture and how the forest itself was changing. We will look at the shift from the office to home and how the market experienced these events. Next month we will flip the script and see how the trees themselves evolved by looking at how products were affected by lockdown. . First lockdown Many people will remember the feeling when the UK shut down on 23 March 2020. The data paints the picture of what consumers looked for in that period of chaos from the search trends of users on Stock in the Channel’s UK site. During the UK’s initial response, demand for PCs almost came to a halt as searches for this category dropped by 75% during the first two months of
Wickus Bester Data analyst at Stock in the Channel
At Stock in the Channel, we are developing a BI engine
to churn through market data and
provide insight to our clients. All graphs and statistics in this article are as a result of this engine.
Trend of searches on Stock in the Channel before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Feb 2018 - Jan 2021)
PCs/Workstations
Laptops
900
600
300
Source: Stock in the Channel
Source: Stock in the Channel
50
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