In its consumer behavior analysis for the German website eBay.de, the online company eBay Ads has evaluated search queries during the extract search words and trends among its users. According to the report, two trends are becoming obvious: Search words like “well-being” and “cozy” have seen a significant increase compared to pre-Covid times. The researchers found an even bigger growth for the keywords “Fairtrade” (+270 percent), “recyclable” (+315 percent), “sustainable” (+536 percent), “climate neutral” (+1223 percent), ”bio” (+61 percent) and “without microplastics” (+2497 percent).
Pandemic-related travel warnings and Covid regulations have largely thwarted Germans’ vacation plans over the past two years. As a result, more and more consumers realize the happiness of traveling in their own campervan (+33 percent). For individual vacations away from tourist routes, they are increasingly sprucing up their mobile vacation homes. The associated camping equipment such as battery packs (+277 percent), folding beds (+415 percent), multiflex boards (+164 percent) and high tops for vans (+645 percent) is recording a corresponding peak on eBay.de. Consumers meet their own sustainability requirements with environmentally friendly accessories such as retrofit catalytic converters (+1500 percent) and solar panels (+30 percent).
At home, sweatpants (+17 percent), tracksuits (+27 percent) and indoor slippers (+23 percent) are also very popular among German consumers. At the same time, consumers are increasingly attaching importance to sustainable and regionally produced fashion in their outfits. Demand for fair fashion (+415 percent) and second-hand (+290 percent) has grown strongly since 2019. And fashion “Made in Germany” (+42 percent) is also trending when searching for clothing and fashion accessories on eBay.
“Since the declaration of the pandemic on March 11, 2020, Covid has visibly changed the shopping behavior of German consumers. Above all, individual well-being and the issue of sustainability have increasingly come into focus as decisive shopping criteria across all product categories,” says Matthias Brestrich, head of brand partnerships at eBay Ads Germany.
