Yelp's new data tells us about the reopening — but it’s really a window into the digital economy

Fewer scented candles... more candlelit dinners. Retail sales fell 1.3% last month, but it's not a bad sign for recovery. Spending is shifting from physical goods to "revenge experiences," as Americans swap TV menus for cocktail menus:

• Down: Spending on furniture, electronics, and appliances fell — because we've already spent enough on our biodomes.
• Up: Restaurant spending jumped 1.8%, and clothing sales jumped 3% (for all those date night fits). But restaurants are still struggling to fill job openings (#LaborShortage).

Hold my beer garden... Yelp's latest data blows those retail numbers out of the iced tap water. Last month, Yelp seated a record 3.7M diners in the US — up 48% from May 2019. Yelp bookings surged past pre-pandemic levels in almost every US state, minus NY.

• In Texas and Florida, where Covid restrictions have been lifted longer, Yelp diners more than doubled last month compared to two years earlier.
• In California, which lifted its mask mandate and restrictions yesterday, diners were already back to pre-Covid levels in May.
• It could be that restaurants added more pandemic seating areas (hence: extra booking space). But we think something else is going on...