Americans are cleaning and settling in this spring

COVID-19 has changed our lives and impacted how and where we work, use our time, and spend our money. 

At Affirm, we’ve tried new things to adapt to working from home over the past few weeks. We share daily stories and pictures in our team chat, do virtual group fitness classes together, and end our week with “Virtual Wine Downs,” to look back on and celebrate the week’s accomplishments. As an avid Soulcycle fan, I’ve become particularly fond of challenging co-workers through Peloton’s app and seeing who ends up highest on the leaderboard!

I’m grateful for these new, intimate ways to connect with colleagues and for my new, must-attend midday meeting — daily lunch with the family. But, adjusting to this new reality has had its set of challenges for me, and for everyone, as we work to find our new normal. Leading Affirm’s commercial organization, I’ve had the opportunity to learn how others are adapting, spending their money, and using Affirm to make their lives easier, brighter, and more manageable. 

What we’ve seen is that shelter-in-place and travel restrictions mean fewer reasons to dress to the nines — although our team still enjoys dressing up for “Fancy Fridays.” The restrictions also mean missing out on celebrating major milestones, in person, like a friend’s birthday or wedding. So for now, areas like travel, ticketing, and jewelry sales are down. But there are bright spots for many of your favorite retailers this spring. We’ve seen an increase in spending across categories that help people make their homes more comfortable to be in and work from. 

Here are key themes in consumer spending right now:

Spring cleaning is a national sport this year.

People are looking to settle in and are spring cleaning deeper than ever before. They are also prioritizing purchases with Affirm merchants that help them keep their homes clean and tidy, like Molekule, Dyson, and iRobot. Some air purifiers on Affirm have seen more than a 70% increase in sales. Vacuums and water purifiers are seeing similar growth. 

Americans are making their homes comfortable.

Affirm's home category has seen about 20% growth when compared to pre-social distancing restrictions. Purchases of mattresses, furniture, and decorative pieces from Affirm merchants like Article, Burrow, and Nectar Sleep are up as people prioritize comfort at home while sheltering in place. 

Everyone’s a virtual host(ess) with the most(est).

In the absence of happy hours and dinner parties, friends are moving to virtual meetups to stay connected. Whether they’re meal prepping for the week or planning a virtual bake-off with friends, people are cooking. We’ve seen about a 70% increase in the kitchen supplies category as people buy grills, mixers, and more at Affirm merchants like KitchenAid, Traeger Grills, and Coravin.

We’re in the midst of a home office (r)evolution.

As of March 19, nearly 30% of Americans were working from home and with that number continuing to grow, many are fixing up their remote workspaces. Affirm has seen an increase of more than 200% in sales of office-related products as people buy what they need to be efficient and productive in their home offices. They’re buying standing desks, computer monitors, and ergonomic chairs from Affirm merchants like Uplift Desk, Ergotron, and Beyond The Office Door.

People are finding ways to move without going anywhere.

With gyms shutting down across the country, many people are looking for alternative ways to stay active. In addition to taking free classes offered by many popular fitness brands, such as CorePower Yoga, many people are also looking to improve their at-home workouts with brands like Peloton, Mirror, and Tonal. At Affirm, the home fitness category (which includes these brands) has seen 163% growth.

**The consumer insights shared compare spending volume January 1 - March 14, 2020, to spending volume March 15 - April 8, 2020.