Which online transactions are going up and down during the pandemic.

CJ, previously known as Commission Junction, is a large affiliate network. Many businesses run affiliate programs through them, including GoDaddy. Because it’s tracking commissions, it gets real-time data into what’s happening to different business segments in light of the pandemic.

The company is providing this data for free and updating it weekly. This is great, recently-updated data to help you navigate these times.

I think this year-over-year chart for March 1-28 is the most interesting. It shows clear winners and losers.

Winners:

• Education, actions up 387%
• Food and Drinks, up 66% (remember, these are people ordering food online)
• Recreation and Leisure, up 49%
• Sports & Fitness, up 49%

Regarding the latter two categories, people are buying exercise equipment and recreational equipment in droves.

Losers:

• Travel, actions down 59%
• Live Events, down 57%
• Gifts and Flowers, down 19%

I thought about sending flowers to someone who had received bad health news, and then realized they probably don’t want a delivery driver showing up at their home.

Keep in mind that actions include things other than just sales, such as lead generation.