Last year s total lockdown of nonessential retailers
was a devastating blow to companies and their employees. Most stores have been back open for months now, and, buoyed by government relief and an uncommonly high savings rate, saw some sales recovery, especially by December. But the pandemic continues to keep shoppers away.
Store and mall traffic patterns from late January demonstrate how dependent retailers are on effective management of the disease outbreak. While vaccines were developed with unprecedented speed, their distribution has been slow and staggered. Cases are surging in some areas, with worrisome variants of the disease emerging.
Even once they re vaccinated, 40% of U.S. consumers say they ll shop for apparel as much or less in stores, and another third or so are unsure about or will refuse a vaccine, according to research from experience management platform First Insight. Most (61%) said they ll cut back on spending if there s another shutdown.
One-third of Americans ‘Not Comfortable’ Getting COVID-19 Vaccine
Arthur Zaczkiewicz
January 28, 2021, 9:16 AM
As COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed in the U.S., a consumer behavior survey from First Insight Inc. found a whopping one-third of respondents saying they are “unsure about receiving or will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The report also showed a large number of shoppers expecting to shop for apparel less in-store while noting they were wary of trying clothes on in a store. The report found that 61 percent of those polled said they would cut back on spending if there was an enforced, national lockdown due to the pandemic.
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