U.S. consumers think businesses should reopen, according to a May 22-24 survey of 1,004 U.S. consumers that Engine Insights conducted on behalf of ICSC Research. Sixty-three percent of consumers believe businesses should reopen. That’s a considerable change from one month ago, when 66 percent thought businesses should stay closed.
Consumers are mostly optimistic that the economy will recover soon from the negative effects of the pandemic. Forty-nine percent expect the economy to improve within the next 12 months, while 34 percent expect it to get worse.
Sixty-seven percent of U.S. consumers will feel comfortable returning to a physical store within two months of the pandemic subsiding, 64 percent to an open-air center, 55 percent to a restaurant and 51 percent to personal services like a spa or salon.
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today