COVID-19 Vaccine’s Impact On Retail & Ecommerce – Study
With FDA issuing emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the rollout of the vaccine to the general public in the United State is imminent. As we reported back in October, 90.3% of consumers shopped more online due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Now that the mass availability of COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon, we conducted a study that focuses on discovering how consumer behavior will change once the vaccine becomes publicly available in the United States. In this study, we surveyed over one thousand Americans consumers to find out how their shopping behavior will impact retail and ecommerce after COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out to the public.
Below you will find the key findings of this survey study. A further breakdown of the data can be found after the key findings section along with the methodology and demographics. You can skip to each section by clicking on one of the buttons below.
Key Findings
RETAIL
56.1% of consumers plan to shop more in-store after COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
65.4% of consumers who plan to do more in-store shopping expect to spend more money at Target.
Consumers who plan to shop more in-store will spend $176 more per month in-store after COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out to the public.
75.1% of consumers indicated that they will purchase more clothing & accessories in-store after COVID-19 vaccine mass rollout.
43.9% of consumers indicated that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will not change their current in-store shopping behavior.
ECOMMERCE
32.7% of consumers plan to shop less online after COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
82.4% of consumers who plan to do less online shopping expect to spend less money at Amazon.
Consumers who plan to shop less online will spend $171 less per month online after COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out to the public.
41.2% of consumers indicated that they will purchase less food & groceries online after COVID-19 vaccine mass rollout.
67.3% of consumers indicated that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will not change their current online shopping behavior.
Retail
Shopping Frequency Change
56.1% of consumers plan to shop more in-store once COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to the public.
43.9% of consumers indicated that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will not change their in-store shopping behavior.
Product Category Consumption Change
Current Consumption
Increase Post Vaccine
74.8% of consumers reported that they currently still buy groceries in-store while another 31.8% and 29.9% said they also buy household items and health & wellness products in store respectively.
After vaccine is made available to the public, 75.1% of consumers said they will shop more in store for clothing & accessories, while another 58.3% and 46.7% will buy more food & groceries and household items in-store respectively.
Expenditure Change
On average, consumers who expect to shop more in-store after COVID-19 vaccine is made available to the public expect to spend an additional $176 per month.
In-store Retailers Expected To See More Sales
65.4% of consumers who plan to do more in-store shopping after vaccine rollout expect to spend more money at Target.
60.1% of consumers who plan to do more in-store shopping after vaccine rollout expect to spend more money at Walmart.
21.7% of consumers who plan to do more in-store shopping after vaccine rollout expect to spend more money at Costco.
Anticipated Duration For More In-store Shopping
62.1% of consumers expect to start shopping more in-store within 1-6 months after the vaccine is released to the public. More specifically, 35.4% expect to shop more in-store within 3-6 months and another 26.7% expect to shop more in store within 1-2 months of vaccine rollout.
Ecommerce
Shopping Frequency Change
32.7% of consumers plan to shop more online once COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to the public.
67.3% of consumers indicated that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will not change their current online shopping behavior.
Product Category Consumption Change
Current Consumption
Decrease Post Vaccine
49.5% of consumers reported that they currently buy clothing & accessories online while another 48.6% and 45.8% said they also buy household items and electronics products online respectively.
After vaccine is made available to the public, 52.9% of consumers said they will shop less online for clothing & accessories, while another 41.2% and 35.3% will buy less food & groceries and household items online respectively.
Expenditure Change
On average, consumers who expect to shop less online after COVID-19 vaccine is made available to the public expect to spend $176 less online per month.
Online Retailers Expected To See Less Sales
82.4% of consumers who plan to do less shopping online after vaccine rollout expect to spend less money at Amazon.
17.6% of consumers who plan to do less shopping online after vaccine rollout expect to spend less money at eBay.
14.7% of consumers who plan to do less shopping online after vaccine rollout expect to spend less money at Etsy.
Anticipated Duration For Less Online Shopping
62.4% of consumers expect to start shopping less online within 1-6 months after a vaccine is released to the public. More specifically 35.3% said they expect to shop less online within 1-2 months and another 27.1% expect to shop less online within 3-6 months of vaccine rollout.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY & DEMOGRAPHICS
For the purpose of this study, we surveyed 1070 US consumers to find out how American consumers will change their shopping behavior after COVID-19 vaccine is released to the public and the impact it will have retail and ecommerce in United State. The survey was conducted through SurveyMonkey services.
The demographic composition of the 1070 individuals surveyed is as follows.
Age
Income
Gender
WRAP UP
Based on the data we collected, more people will shop in-store and spend more money on certain product categories within 1-6 months of COVID-19 vaccine rollout. While many consumers have indicated that they will also reduce their online spending, the majority have said that they do not plan to change their online shopping behavior despite imminent release of the vaccine.
Here are some other useful resources with respect to COVID-19 vaccine: