Home Workout Boom: Sales of Dumbbells Soar During Lockdown Announcement.
- UK residents turn to Google to understand ‘new lockdown exercise rules’ with an online search spike of +3,400% in the past 7 days
- Britons are also trying to figure out how often they can exercise, if they can work out with another person and if the rules allow them to travel to exercise
- Sales of weight benches on the day of the latest lockdown announcement were more than +5,000% higher than the same time last year, with dumbbells (+3,464%) and kettlebells (+2,482%) also seeing huge growth
- What’s more, week-on-week sales of fitness steps soared by as much as +894% on January 4th alone
The research was undertaken by sports and fitness equipment specialists www.sweatband.com, who analysed sales data and Google Trends search data to determine what UK residents are most commonly searching the internet for in the world of fitness as the new year (and a new lockdown) gets underway.
With Boris Johnson announcing the third national lockdown on Monday 4th January 2021, and it having been rumoured in the days leading up to the announcement, the below searches saw the biggest spike on Google over the latest 7-day period:
- New lockdown exercise rules – +3,400%
- New exercise rules – +1,500%
- Exercise once a day – +1,400%
- Can you drive to exercise in new lockdown? – +850%
- Can I exercise with another person? – +700%
When analysing sales data from the day that lockdown was announced (4th January), the team noticed a significant increase in interest for products typically associated with home workouts. When comparing current sales year-on-year, weight benches saw the biggest increase, jumping by a massive +5,166%. Dumbbells (+3,464%), kettlebells (+2,482%) and fitness steps (+2,784%) also saw huge growth when compared to the same dates in 2020.
Looking at the difference in week-on-week sales, fitness steps saw the biggest increase in sales on the day of the third lockdown announcement in England, increasing by +894%, with power racks (+650%), kettlebells (+135%) and dumbbells (+133%) also experiencing a spurt in sales. What’s more, order levels experienced by sweatband.com on the 4th January 2021 were more than double the levels of Black Friday.
Lockdown Fitness Shift: Sweatband's Analysis of Sales and Search Trends in the UK
Google Trends search data also revealed that dumbbells (+700%) and kettlebells (+300%) were the most sought-after fitness equipment between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, with many looking to focus their New Year’s resolutions on leading a fitter, healthier lifestyle.
Cardio followed closely behind with many across the UK searching for ‘skipping ropes’ (+250%), ‘treadmills’ (+130%) and ‘folded exercise bikes’ (+120%).
There was also a +250% spike in the number of online searches in the same time frame for ‘free fitness apps’, as well as spikes for ‘fitness at home’ (+130%) and ‘online fitness classes’ (+120%).
Maz Darvish, CEO of www.sweatband.com, commented on the findings:
“2020 arguably saw the biggest shift in the way that we exercise as a nation; gym workouts were replaced by home workouts and scores of people took up running for the first time. With another lockdown announced within England, we expect to see this trend continue throughout the year, even when the gyms and wider facilities are opened back up. People may find that home workouts benefit them more in terms of flexibility around their schedule and we’re predicting that many may want to keep it that way.”
