Pandemic turns Irish customers’ attention from fitness to coffee, data shows

Globally, Google searches for cookware rose 53 per cent between 2019 and 2020

Data sourced by shopping service MyUS from Google showed the top item searched for online in 2020 was coffee brand Nespresso

Irish customers turned their attention from fitness to coffee last year, as the pandemic hit shopping habits.

Data sourced by shopping service MyUS from Google showed the top item searched for online in 2020 was coffee brand Nespresso. In 2019, the top brand was Nike as shoppers searched for the AirMax 270, MyUS said.

The iPhone 11 was the second most searched product in 2020, the data showed. During the holiday season, the Apple Watch was top of the list, with the Sony PlayStation 5 in second place.

MyUS offers virtual address services to facilitate shoppers who want to shop with US retailers but may be outside the geographical area.

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The company analysed historical Google search volume data of around 600 popular products, across 189 countries to determine what products were the most searched for online, adding the list to Google’s Keyword Planner to determine historical search volume for each product.

Globally, Google searches for cookware rose 53 per cent between 2019 and 2020, while streaming devices saw an increase in interest of 31 per cent year on year. Searches for coffeemakers rose more than 33 per cent

Apple’s iPhone also continued to grab attention, with a 51 per cent increase in the number of countries where the most disproportionately searched product was an iPhone.

Games consoles were also popular, with searches for the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X over 2019 and 2020.

Streaming devices saw interest over both years, but while Amazon’s Fire Stick was the most popular in 2019, Google’s Chromecast, which saw a new version launch in 2020, took over last year as the most searched streaming device.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist