Updated April 1 2020: If youre currently under a statewide quarantine youre certainly not alone: As of March 30 there were
261 million Americans in 31 states 82 counties 18 cities the nations capital and Puerto Rico currently under a shelter-in-place order or something similar. And while there is a healthy debate to be had over balancing
personal liberty against public safety at the time of a highly infectious and potentially deadly pandemic it is also worth remembering that this is neither the first epidemic to strike the United States nor the
first mass quarantine.
However it is arguably the first quarantine during a time of the modern mass media most of which is doing absolutely nothing to assuage peoples fears. Quite the opposite at every step of the way certain influential voices in the press are seeking to inflame peoples quite reasonable fears into a totally irrational panic. This panic can then be monetized for pageviews (and to a much lesser extent newspaper sales and advertising). And while some have taken a more measured tone between a Pollyanna-ish burying of the head in the sand (its just the flu") and the kind of scaremongering we talk about below the measured voices in todays press are all too frequently drowned out by those profiting from panic.
This social panic has created predictable results. The stock market is in an extremely volatile state to say nothing of finding toilet paper. Americans are likewise stocking up on ammunition creating a significant spike in demand right here at Ammo.com. Our growth in sales directly correlates with the publics increasing leariness of COVID-19. Starting on
February 23 sales began to increase as the search term coronavirus" gained traction according to
Google Trends. This increase in sales has continued as follows:
- 792 increase in revenue
- 574 increase in transactions
- 349 increase in site traffic
- 50 increase in conversion rate
- 29 increase in average order value
Note: These figures compare 39 days of sales February 23 to March 31 to the previous 39 day time period January 16 to February 22 2020. Time-permitting these figures will be updated on an ongoing basis to keep the public abreast of market conditions.
Our COVID-19 Data Study has been updated with the most recent numbers. Weve also added a brief history of American quarantines along with some thoughts on fear and federal bureaucracys role in heightening it.
Continue reading COVID-19 Data Study: Ammunition Sales Continue to Soar in Response to Coronavirus Panic at Ammo.com.
