Vaccine May Not Alter Digital Shopping Trend
Now accustomed to online food ordering, consumers plan to stick with it, study finds.
Jan 13, 2021 | 2 min read
NEW YORK—As vaccination numbers rise in the United States, consumers are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it might not be positive enough to change shopping attitudes, Pymnts.com reports.
In “Mapping Consumers’ Return to the Physical World: Why Digital-First Behaviors Are Here to Stay,” Pymnts’ Pandenomics research found that more consumers will continue to shop for food online even after getting vaccinated.
The study found that 54% of consumers who now routinely shop online since the pandemic started are very interested in vaccination. Of these, 75% will not return to in-store shopping like they did before March 2020. Rather, they will stick to online food ordering.
For retailers, those numbers mean a need to continue digital shopping options and investments in digital innovations, even as the risk for COVID-19 is expected to drop. Digital options should also include mobile ordering and purchase, mobile order-ahead and the ability to order food via aggregator, researchers said.
The study also found that 41% of consumers indicated they did more mobile shopping now than before March 2020. Thirty-nine percent of these are using mobile order-ahead for food more, while 29% are placing food orders via aggregator more than prior to the pandemic.
To learn more about last-mile services, read “Covering the Last Mile” in the January 2021 issue of the NACS Magazine.
NACS has compiled resources to help the convenience retail community navigate the COVID-19 crisis. For news updates and guidance, visit our coronavirus resources page.
Facilities management
