In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Ashley Chiaradio and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published on Total Retail titled, “Consumer Shopping Habits During the COVID-19 Crisis,” authored by David Fisch, general manager of Shopkick. Shopkick recently conducted a survey of nearly 25,000 consumers across the country to gain insights into changing behaviors during this current health and economic crisis.

A few of the key results shared in the article include:

• 76 percent of consumers are adjusting their shopping habits, and nearly 60 percent of consumers report being worried about shopping in physical stores.
• Shoppers are mitigating concerns by taking additional health precautions, including disinfecting their hands and shopping carts, shopping at slower times, using debit/credit cards to avoid handling cash, and using self-checkout.
• Many store aisles are empty as nearly half of consumers — 47 percent — are stocking up on essential items, with more than three out of four responding that doing so makes them feel "safer." However, basically all respondents reported that those same household essentials, like food items and water, toiletries, cleaning supplies, medicine, medical items, and pet supplies, were sold out at their usual retailer or grocery store.

Retailers that are still operating brick-and-mortar locations need to be aware of these consumer precautions in order to update current in-store policies. The more retailers can do to keep consumers safe and comfortable, the better consumers’ shopping experiences will be. To read more data from Shopkick, check out the full article by clicking here.

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