UK shoppers see light at end of coronavirus tunnel
The share of British adults feeling comfortable about heading to the shops almost doubled from May to June, according to research from EY.
Its survey of over 1,000 UK consumers found that feeling positive about shopping in grocery stores has risen from 25% in May to 48% in June.
The proportion of those who are happy trying on clothes has also now doubled from 8% to 17%. Comfort levels around visiting a mall have increased, with 26% of respondents feeling comfortable in June, compared with 15% in May.
Once the outbreak is over, 17% of consumers intend to spend more on beauty and cosmetics and 22% plan to do the same for clothing and footwear. And in April, just 13% said they were planning on spending more on big ticket items post-Covid-19, but that figure rose to 18% in June. The proportion of those who feel pessimistic about how they will shop in future has decreased from 31% in April to 22% in June.
Silvia Rindone, EY UK&I Retail Partner, comments: “Our research shows consumers see light at the end of the tunnel as they emerge from lockdown and try to resume everyday life. We have seen a cautious optimism begin to appear, with consumers feeling more comfortable with spending and venturing out to shop.”
“While optimism about the future is up, we’re still not past the pandemic and getting back to ‘normal’ will still take time. Our latest index is published a week before shoppers will be required to wear face coverings in store. Our next report will give us an idea of the impact of the policy on consumer behaviour.”
Despite stores reopening, 43% of consumers said they would shop more online for products previously bought in stores in June compared to 17% in May. 64% of people are visiting physical stores less.
Mona Bitar, EY UK&I Consumer Leader, says: “Consumer companies should continue to embrace the opportunity and build capacity to meet demand. This will enable them to gain sales now and in the future.”
“Business leaders should focus on reshaping their portfolios so that they are relevant to the evolving consumer, providing digital customer journeys that reflect the way consumers will behave and creating the transparency needed to secure consumer trust.”
At the same time, however, those seeing growth in their online sales must remember that these will be likely to tempered by reduced physical sales, coupled with increased operational costs in-store.
“To thrive in the post-pandemic era, retailers must look to truly integrate their channels, otherwise they risk running two parallel business models with reduced productivity across both and split capital and overall investment activity,” she concludes.
