Business

US Shopper Worries Increase, Prompting Retail Spending Cuts: Survey

Coresight Research's latest survey on the coronavirus crisis tries to find out how concerned US consumers are about the coronavirus outbreak, what they are worried about, and how long they think the severe impacts of the outbreak will last. Coresigh Research's latest US consumer survey, undertaken on March 25, provides an update on consumer behavior and sentiment amid the coronavirus crisis.

Almost half of US consumers (45.7%) are now extremely concerned about the outbreak, up 10 percentage points in just a week.
Some 9.1% said they had already lost their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak, up from 4.2% last week. Job losses peak among younger adults.
We saw a big week-over-week uptick in the proportion saying they are buying less of certain categories, with close to half saying they are cutting back in some areas.
Fully 95% of respondents now avoid public areas or travel, up from around 85% one week earlier.

Coresight Research surveyed US consumers about the impact of the coronavirus on their behavior on March 17-18 and again on March 25, 2020. The recent findings show US consumers are more worried & that more are cutting purchases. Consumers are more worried A total of 85% of respondents are somewhat or extremely concerned about the coronavirus, up from 79% one week earlier. Almost half of respondents are now extremely concerned about the pandemic, up around 10 percentage points over the prior week. Concerns about jobs and income

Some 9.1% said they had already lost their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak, up from 4.2% last week.
Although the survey saw fluctuations in worries about losing jobs or losing part of their income week over week, the total for these two metrics was broadly steady, with around 46% concerned about losing employment or income in both weeks.

The findings emphasize the economic retrenchment that could happen as shoppers curtail spending out of fear. Changing behaviors Just over half of all respondents say they now buy more of certain categories-level with last week. However, the proportion who say they buy less of certain categories increased considerably, with close to half of respondents saying they are cutting back in some areas. Retail and leisure are seeing an exodus of customers. Fully 95% of respondents are now avoiding public areas or travel, up from around 85% one week earlier. Shopping centres/malls are still the third most avoided type of location. Shops in general are significantly less avoided-showing malls are weighted toward discretionary retail rather than nondiscretionary such as grocery stores and drugstores. However, over two-thirds say they avoid shops in general.