Consumers are ready to resume pre-COVID behavior, study reveals

As vaccines continue to roll out amid promises of an eventual end to COVID-19, consumers are ready to get back to normal. A new study from Nielsen surveying Americans found that the majority, or 61%, of consumers are “ready to go” with returning to normal, pre-pandemic behavior. That contrasts with 34% who were ready for such a return in April of last year. Roughly two-thirds of consumers say that things are safer now than they were last month—a drastic uptick compared with April 2020’s 38% of consumers who viewed things as safe. In contrast, 9% of consumers are taking a “wait and see” approach when it comes to resuming normal behavior, Nielsen found. More than half of the group have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Yet, while pre-pandemic behavior is on the horizon, certain shopping habits, spurred by the coronavirus, will remain. One of those is online shopping, which has skyrocketed in recent months as locked-down consumers turn to home delivery for groceries and other items to avoid crowds. Nearly 8 in 10 consumers are now getting items delivered from online orders, Nielsen found, compared with 7 in 10 before COVID-19. Shoppers are also pursuing new methods of delivery, like curbside pickup, a service nearly all retailers rolled out last year to better cater to customers and limit in-store visits. To learn more about new shopping habits, attend Ad Age Next: Retail on April 20, a digital conference featuring executives from brands including Petco, eBay and Rent the Runway. Buy your tickets here.

Consumers are ready to resume pre-COVID behavior, study reveals

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