Online searches here related to the hospitality sector dropped by 90% during the April lockdown, it emerged on Monday.
Internet trawls using terms as “hotel deal” and “weekend break” were greatly reduced but the luxury travel market has emerged as one of the sectors that might be the quickest to recover.
This is because searches for “luxury travel” increased experiencing an upward curve since mid-March, rising from minus 42% to minus 7% in May - almost back to normal.
Searches for “paint” went up 700% and searches for video games were up 250%.
The search term “compare mortgage rates online” experienced an increase of 250% year-on-year during May, suggesting that consumers are worried about their financial wellbeing and the hunt for value for money.
The research by Co Clare-based digital agency, Core Optimisation found that wearable tech has had a huge growth in search, with search terms within the ‘electronic apparel accessories” category rising from minus 14% in March to 18% in April.
Throughout April, searches related to ‘home delivery’ and ‘buy online’ saw query volume triple that of Black Friday searches related to the same terms in November 2019 - historically, the month of November receives record searches previously untouched
The seismic growth in online search that has been experienced in Ireland signals that even those who resisted online pre-lockdown are now more comfortable and will continue to use online retail post-lockdown - an important shift for businesses to be aware of.
Historically, many Irish businesses have been slow to invest in their online and Core is urging businesses to do so.
