Oli Digital

29th March 2021 – the date that you were able to invite your nearest and dearest to your gardens and make the long awaited return to your local fairways and tennis courts. This was commonly referred to ‘Happy Monday‘ across various media publications. It also happened to coincide with the mini heatwave and shortly following pay day, as well as the upcoming bank holiday weekend (and, yes, two 4 day working weeks) and the continued vaccine roll out, there was talk that consumers are starting to feel a bit more optimistic about the future.

The monthly consumer confidence index from market research firm GfK rose to -16 from -23 in March, according to Reuters. Far from dancing on the streets but still a step in the right direction.

In digital marketing, we often look at tactical improvements and how we can improve results from particular channels but how consumers are feeling will, ultimately, have a knock on effect on spending. So much so, that I’ve dug into some of Happy Monday’s biggest hits (not to be confused by the band fronted by Mancuncian duo, Shaun Ryder and Bez).

So, why is consumer confidence key?

Quite simply, when consumer confidence is high, consumers have a higher propensity to buy. Now there’s no getting away from the fact that we’re facing a recession and long road back from the economic heartbreak caused by the global Coronavirus pandemic but short bursts of consumer expenditure will be music to the ears of every business spanning the length and breadth of the UK and further afield.

So, by monitoring the data from Google’s Rising Retail Categories Tool over the last week, and cross-referencing against Google Trends, I’ve unearthed a number of insights about consumer behaviour and where people are looking to spend.

So what did consumers flock to buy during Happy Monday and the subsequent Bank Holiday Weekend. I’ve collated a few of the winners below.

Happy Monday Winners

Pizza Ovens

Last year, we had chimineas being the must-have garden accessory. This year, that looks to have been overtaken by the Instagram favourite, pizza ovens. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, we saw a large uplift for both the premium priced ‘Ooni Pizza Oven’, as well as the Aldi equivalent.

Mölkky Game

One, possibly, unlikely winner from the Bank Holiday weekend was the Finnish favourite game, Molkky.

This game, priced in the region of £40 on Amazon, has proven to be a garden hit and in keeping with the latest Covid restrictions. Think of a blend between garden boules, skittles and the mathemetical gymnastics of darts.

Egg Chair

Easter Sunday and a sudden peak in interest for eggs shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, it wasn’t the chocolately Easter staple, it was for the hanging garden wicker chair.

Upon the release of the extremely popular Aldi Handing Egg Chair, 200,000 people attempted to access the site with users having to wait up to an hour and told that up to 197,000 people were ahead of them in their pursuit of the decking decoration.

Screen Envy

The latest lockdown restrictions permit people into your garden but this random uplift is for a product that, ironically, helps to keep your neighbours out. This term, appearing to be a close match variation of the brand name, Screen With Envy, who offer high quality, decorative garden accessories to give you more privacy in your garden.

Aldi Patio Heaters

Another winner of the weekend also belongs to the budget supermarket, the Aldi patio heater. With the improved weather and thirst for vitamin D, as well as a desire to spend time with other households has driven the demand for the affordable patio heater.

Other Booming Categories

Unsurprisingly, when the weather improves, many Brits are quick to fire up the BBQ so that was a clear winner over the weekend. Lockdown driven purchases were also prominent with the ability to now play golf proving to be the perfect time to refresh your clubs and accessories, with the same observed for Tennis enthusiasts.

The increased time spent in gardens driving the desire to impress your guests with new furniture such as hammocks and garden swings, as well as paddling pools / hot tubs all proving to be popular.

BBQ	Garden Furniture	Sports	Sun	Clothing	Misc.
Charcoal Barquettes	Garden Swing	Swingball	Sunscreen	Shorts	Ice Pops
BBQ Cover	Hammock	Golf bags, balls and clubs	Air Conditioner	Skorts	Coolers
Parasol	Outdoor Tables	Trampolines	Sunglasses	Wet Suit	Picnic Blankets
Smoking Chips	Activity Table	Lawn Games			Swimming pool
		Tennis			Desk fan

So, there you have it, the biggest hits from ‘Happy Monday’ and the Bank Holiday Weekend. Keeping on top of trends and knowing what’s popular can unlock a wealth of opportunities, with Google Trends being an invaluble resource for any brand.

There’s often correlations with search demand but, during these unprecedented times (it seems a long time since lockdown 1), you need to be closer to these trends than ever before. Thankfully, ‘unprecedented’ is one term on the decline though.

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Understanding search intent is key to being successful in the search results. However, sometimes it’s very difficult to ascertain what the searcher is looking for and, therefore, Google will show different results to fulfil different motivations. This is known as fractured intent.

The intent of the searcher can also change over time too based on engagement and external influences, known as query intent shift. In the below quiz, Chris Green (Head of Marketing Innovation at Footprint Digital) and I have looked up terms that have a combined UK monthly search volume of nearly 1.2 million that could be users looking for very contrasting results. Share a screenshot of your score in the LinkedIn post comments.

UK Search Intent Quiz

But, how do the results differ between the UK and US? Try the quiz below.

US Search Intent Quiz