With total consumer card spending down 2% from Memorial Day to Labor Day, most companies needed to take share from competitors to even partially offset category spending declines. That’s a tall order when faced with all of the operational and personal challenges presented by this pandemic. Yet many did grow share. This article highlights six companies that grew U.S. market share more than their competition. Some of them are bound to surprise you.
A word first on methodology: All sales and share data in this article is from Commerce Signals Merchant Tracker. It includes anonymized credit and debit card spending from more than 40 million U.S. households, balanced by geography and other proprietary metrics. The Merchant Tracker includes sales and share data for more than 1300 consumer direct companies. Online, in-store and total sales dollars, transactions and average ticket are tracked down to the county level.
U.S. Market Share Takers – Summer 2020
Airbnb
Airbnb sales were up 8.2% vs. 2019 while traditional hotels were down -66.3%. Combining the two, Airbnb grew U.S. market share by 119%. Airbnb didn’t escape the downturn entirely; weekly sales were down as much as 75% in April. But consumers returned to Airbnb this summer much quicker than hotels.
Wyndham Hotels
Among traditional hotels and motels, Wyndham grew their share by 72.9%. Quality Inn outperformed as well and grew share 62.3%. Unfortunately for both, that growth wasn’t enough to offset the huge decline in travel. If they can hold their market share as travel ramps back up, the future is bright for these brands.
True Value
True Value grew share by 10.7% — the most among home centers and hardware. Ace Hardware grew share as well by 5.6%. Perhaps smaller format stores are regaining traction during this pandemic.
Target
If you’ve seen Target’s Q2 financial results, you know they’ve performed very well of late, but they made this list specifically for their online share growth. Even when including Amazon in mass, their share of online mass sales grew by 12% this summer, the most of any mass retailer.
Sheetz
A regional gas station and convenience store chain, Sheetz, grew U.S. market share more than any other c-store at 41.1%. Quik Trip, Circle K and Valero were not far behind, growing share by 36.5%, 33.8% and 33.4% respectively. Lower gas prices combined with reduced consumer travel made this summer challenging for all c-stores. Consumer purchase transactions were down 28.1% overall while the average sale declined 10.9%.
Uber
Uber and Lyft sales are both still well behind last year, but Uber’s market share has grown 9.1% vs. Lyft. In California, their share has grown 18.4%. Uber share grew the most in Nebraska at +23% and declined the most in Alaska (-14%).
Congratulations to these companies and teams. Here’s to better times ahead.
For more information about Commerce Signals Merchant Tracker, please contact us.