Permanent change in shopping habits
Almost half of UK consumers believe they will never return to their previous level of instore shopping, in a blow to a high street reeling from lockdowns and other coronavirus restrictions.
However, the number planning to shop more locally following the pandemic is on the rise, according to a new survey by Edinburgh software specialist Ap po in tedd. The firm polled people in June and this month to track changes in shopping habits over the year living with Covid-19.
A poll by the online booking and customer engagement platform in June found that 25.5 per cent of people didn’t think they would return to their previous level of in-store shopping. The same question posed this month found that number rising to 46.7 per cent.
In June ,45.3 percent of respondents claimed that following the pandemic they planned to shop more locally, and six months on that number has jumped to 64 per cent.
The latest poll, undertaken last week, also highlights that people are becoming used to some of the Covid safety measures introduced by retailers.
Almost 70 per cent of shoppers want the ability to book guaranteed entry slots and virtual shopping exp eriences have risen in p opularit y from 20 per cent to almost 30 per cent.
App ointedd’s founder and chief executive, Leah Hutcheon, said: “When we conducted the first sur vey shoppers and retailers were just getting to grips with so cial distancing and were introducing new measures to help people shop safely.
“We’ve now had six months of living with the pandemic and it’s interesting to see just how much consumers have embraced new ways to shop.”