The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
How shopping habits are changing
How shopping habits are changing during pandemic
Most Canadians will have noticed by now that a visit to the grocery store is no longer the same. Many are either going to the grocery store with a different mindset or are looking for alternative options to get food to their homes.
Dalhousie University, in partnership with Angus Reid, conducted a survey on attitudes and new habits of Canadians during the COVID crisis, at the grocery store and beyond.
DO YOU STILL SHOP IN-STORE?
We first asked Canadians if they have in fact continued to shop in-store for groceries during the pandemic. A total of 64 per cent still shop in stores but buy more, so they do not return as often. Panic-buying or hoarding is no longer measurable in most stores in the country. Now, five per cent of Canadians buy all foods online. The Atlantic region has a rate higher than the national average at seven per cent. It may not seem like a high number, but we believe the number of consumers buying food online regularly has quadrupled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. About six per cent of consumers ask someone else to go to the grocery store for them.
NEW HABITS FOR SHOPPERS
The pandemic has created new habits for shoppers: 81 per cent are now using extra hand sanitizer when grocery shopping while 42 per cent take extra precautions and are wiping groceries down with disinfectant when they get home. As for personal protective equipment, 30 per cent of respondents now wear a mask when grocery shopping, with ten per cent using an N95 mask. Our survey also indicated that 26 per cent are wearing gloves regularly when grocery shopping.
ARE SHOPPERS FOLLOWING SAFETY PROTOCOLS?
Many stores have implemented strict new measures since the start of COVID-19. T&T and Longo's in Toronto are taking customers' temperature as they walk into their stores. In Quebec and parts of Ontario, it was reported that Costco is asking all customers to wear a mask when visiting their stores.
Given that masks and gloves are common and we have been experiencing the pandemic for over two months now, we do not believe that strict measures will affect foot traffic for stores looking at implementing new safety measures. Most of these measures are encouraged by public health officials.
In grocery stores, consumers see things they would never have seen before the pandemic. We asked Canadians if they noticed new safety procedures enacted in stores. A total of 95 per cent noticed Plexiglas being used in food retail stores, by far the most noticeable new feature for consumers.
A total of 91 per cent of consumers noticed arrows to show which direction consumers should be taking when roaming aisles.
Third, 90 per cent noticed security in stores to keep the number of shoppers to the legal limit. A total of 58 per cent of Canadians noticed cashiers wearing masks. Oddly, it is in Quebec where that percentage is the lowest, at 29 per cent. The highest percentage is in the Atlantic Region, at 64 per cent.
A total of 47 per cent of Canadians were asked to pack their own bags during visits to the grocery store. The lowest percentage was in Saskatchewan, at 36 per cent, and the highest in Manitoba, at 64 per cent.
During this survey, we asked Canadians about compliance with new safety rules.
Only 12 per cent say that all shoppers they see are complying with new safety protocols. In Quebec we found the highest percentage of consumers who believe everyone is following new protocols all the time, at 21 per cent, with the lowest in Saskatchewan, at five per cent.
We also looked at age groups. Results suggest that younger shoppers feel that other shoppers are not complying with the new rules as much. Older shoppers appear to believe most people are following rules when grocery shopping.
POST-PANDEMIC BEHAVIOUR
Finally, we asked what Canadians intend to do when the pandemic is over. A total of 47 per cent of Canadians intend to cook more than before when the pandemic is over, with younger people expressing the most intent. As for going to restaurants, 17 per cent of Canadians intend to visit restaurants more often than before the crisis, with 22 per cent of younger Canadians expressing this intent. Nine per cent of Canadians intend to order food online regularly, compared to less than two per cent before the pandemic. Finally, six per cent of Canadians intend to use food delivery apps more often, and two per cent are planning to order meal kits more often after the pandemic.
On Feb. 20, we released a report on food delivery apps. At the time, 39 per cent of all Canadians had tried a food delivery app at least once. The user rate will likely go up even more this year due to COVID-19. Food delivery apps like UBEREATS, Skip The Dishes, Grubhub are becoming more popular due to COVID-19. Canadians ordered $4.7-billion worth of meals in 2019, and close to $1.5 billion of that was ordered by using a food delivery app. Because of COVID-19, we believe food delivery apps will generate more than $2.5 billion by the end of 2020.
METHODOLOGY
A total of 1,503 Canadians were surveyed in April 2020. National Omni, Angus Reid, April 30, 2020. The sample carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are because of rounding. More data on meal kits and food delivery apps is available upon request.
Funding for this survey was provided by Angus Reid and Dalhousie University.