More consumers are shopping in malls, dining indoors, visiting leisure and entertainment venues and even watching movies indoors, according to ICSC’s latest Coronavirus Consumer Survey of 1,004 U.S. respondents conducted June 11 to 13. The top reasons people cited are having been vaccinated, significantly lower COVID positivity rates and wanting/needing to be out of the house and in environments with other people.
Fifty-two percent of U.S. consumers are dining indoors at restaurants, bars and other eating places, up from 48 percent a month ago. Boomers are doing so, compared with 52 percent of Gen Xers, 49 percent of Millennials and 46 percent of Gen Z. While delivery and pickup services have gained in popularity during the pandemic, consumers still prefer dining out. For high-end restaurants, 56 percent prefer in-person dining rather than takeout or home delivery, while for fast-food and casual restaurants, 61 percent prefer in person compared with home delivery or takeout.
Consumers prefer getting food from a fast-food or casual restaurant in person
Fifty-nine percent of consumers are shopping or browsing inside physical stores for nonessential goods like clothes, electronics and home decor. Sixty-four percent of Gen Xers are doing so, compared with 63 percent of Boomers, 57 percent of Millennials and 44 percent of Gen Z consumers. Shoppers still like to touch and test the merchandise before buying. Fifty-four percent prefer browsing and purchasing products like apparel, electronics, sporting goods and home furnishings in person, compared with 27 percent who prefer shopping for such goods from home.
Forty-four percent of consumers are shopping inside malls, up from 43 percent a month ago. Forty-nine percent of Millennials are, compared with 45 percent of Gen Xers and 40 percent of each Boomers and Gen Z consumers.
Thirty-six percent of consumers are visiting personal services establishments like spas, massage parlors and hair, nail and tanning salons. Forty-one percent of Millennials are, compared with 39 percent of Boomers, 33 percent of Gen Xers and 27 percent of Gen Z consumers.
41 percent of Millennials are visiting personal services establishments
Twenty-two percent of consumers are visiting movie theaters, up from 19 percent a month ago. Thirty-two percent of Millennials, 26 percent of Gen Z consumers, 22 percent of Gen Xers and 13 percent of Boomers are. And movies have a lot of work to do to appeal to consumers who have grown used to the comforts of home viewing. Forty-five percent prefer watching new releases at home, while 31 percent prefer watching in person.
Twenty-one percent of consumers are working out at gyms and fitness centers, the same as a month ago. Thirty percent of Millennials are visiting gyms, while only 24 percent of Gen Z consumers, 22 percent of Gen Xers and 12 percent of Boomers are. Gyms, too, may need to innovate. Thirty-eight percent of consumers prefer working out at home, compared with 31 percent who prefer working out in person at fitness centers and gyms.
Thirty percent of consumers are visiting casinos, leisure and entertainment complexes like arcades and bowling alleys, and recreational sports facilities like golf courses and tennis courts. That’s up from 25 percent a month ago. Thirty-seven percent of Millennials are visiting such destinations, compared with 32 percent of Gen Xers, 25 percent of Boomers and 24 percent of Gen Z consumers.
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today