REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - Recent data collected by Shopkick found that general consumer concern around the coronavirus pandemic is on the decline, with shopping frequency rising and consumers increasingly looking forward to the reopening of non-essential retailers.   

 In its latest report, Shopkick surveyed more than 18,000 consumers across the country between May 27 - June 2 to gain insights into how consumer behavior has evolved since COVID-19 initially hit. 

“The pandemic continues to affect how and where American consumers are shopping, what they are buying, and how much they are spending,” said Dave Fisch, general manager of Shopkick. “And as more and more states ease restrictions and roll out plans for reopening, consumers are preparing themselves for a new retail reality. We are committed to continuing our consumer behavior reporting to guide brands and retailers on how to survive and thrive in this new reality.” 

Key findings include: 

  • Less COVID-19 Concern: Most consumers (73%) are equally or less concerned about COVID-19 than they were in May. Just last month, 82% of consumers said the pandemic was affecting how they shop, and now that number has dropped to 70%.  

  • Influx of In-Store: 94% of consumers say that a member of their household is shopping instore at least once a week, with 52% reporting multiple in-person trips per week. Twelve percent of consumers are visiting stores more often (versus 5% last month), 44% are visiting stores about as often (versus 21% last month), and 44% are visiting stores less often (versus 73% last month).  

  • Lingering Concern: Reasons for not going on in-person shopping trips still include concern that other shoppers will not take safety precautions (38%), concern that retailers will be too crowded (27%) and concern that retailers will not enforce safety precautions (22%). 

  • Summer Spending: Although 48% of consumers say they are shopping online more frequently than one month prior, 65% still plan to make most of their summer purchases instore. Consumers say they plan to spend most of their summer shopping budget on groceries (41%), home improvement projects (27%) and vacations (10%).