The Real Reason Walmart Is Selling More Tops Than Bottoms Right Now

Working from home has its benefits. There's bottomless free coffee, your meals are literally a few steps from where you are, and your computer won't judge you if you are working off a lap tray in bed or at the kitchen table in your pajamas. Best of all? You never need to put on uncomfortable pants again.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, fashion was one of the industries that business analysts thought would get hit hard, as more people opt to work from home during this time. But working from home doesn't mean meetings don't happen — they just happen in a different way. And while working in pajamas or a ratty old sweatshirt is fine when you're chatting with co-workers on Slack, it's another thing altogether when you have to show up for a Zoom meeting. That's when having awesome looking tops that you can throw over your pajama bottoms comes in — which explains why Walmart says its tops are flying off the shelves — but its bottoms aren't going anywhere (via CNN).

Walmart EVP of corporate affairs Dan Bartlett tells Yahoo Finance that the rise of Walmart's new hot item isn't surprising, especially given that meetings we join when we are teleworking only require us to be seen from the waist up. "We're seeing increased sales in tops, but not bottoms. So, people who are concerned, obviously, from the waist up. These behaviors are going to continue to change and evolve as people get accustomed to this new lifestyle, if you will. And we're able to accommodate that, both online and in our stores," he explains. Bartlett also says that the volume for this particular item is being reported in both online orders and walk-in sales in some places.

Tops aren't the only items people are buying more of. As one of the few places left standing in the midst of stay-in-place orders and social distancing, Bartlett says Walmart is seeing folks pick up different items to try to cope with staying at home and cabin fever. These include cleaning supplies, home entertainment products... and more than 30 million popsicle sticks.