While demand for grocery delivery still exceeds pre-pandemic levels, sales have been gradually declining in 2021. Through all of the expansion and contraction over the past few years, Instacart and Walmart Grocery continue to be leaders in the grocery delivery space.
Despite competing sales events during Prime Day 2021, Amazon sales increased and the company experienced higher week-over-week sales growth than retailers Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Consumer transaction data for large national chain Kung Fu Tea reflects that demand for bubble tea has been rising during the pandemic, but so far does not indicate that the boba shortage is affecting the company’s sales or customer counts.
One of the largest salad chains, Sweetgreen, recently filed for an IPO, which would make it an early player among major salad chains to go public. Sweetgreen’s emphasis on healthy, sustainable food as well as a seamless digital experience has resulted in significant growth over the past several years.
For some seasonal industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred increased demand outside of the typical busy season. This is particularly true for the direct-to-consumer (DTC) flower industry—including flower subscription box companies—which experienced strong sales growth throughout 2020 and early 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal income tax deadline for individuals was extended for the past two years. TurboTax continues to lead the tax prep industry and has steadily gained market share from its competitors over the past three tax seasons.
