Shoppers are more comfortable in grocery stores than during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A consumer survey by Toronto-based 6 Degrees Integrated Communications found a 10 per cent reduction in the shoppers who are still nervous about going to stores.
Sixty-seven per cent are still nervous about shopping.
Store safety precautions get a high rating with 71 per cent very or mostly satisfied while 25 per cent are okay with these measures.
“I think what we’re seeing is the emergence of habit and the emergence of the new normal,” Adrianne Gaffney Wotherspoon, 6 Degrees chief strategist, told Canadian Grocer.
“People now understand that this is going to be the new normal.”
The May 10 survey of 500 shoppers found buyers are still stocking up more than they used to with 61 per cent still buying more than needed.
One-third are buying more bulk or jumbo packs than before the pandemic.
Eighty-eight per cent are trying to reduce the number of times they shop and 66 per cent say the household consumes more than it did.
Forty-four per cent are buying healthier food and 44 per cent are stocking up on fresh produce.
Gaffney Wotherspoon says consumers stocked up on food with longer shelf life when the pandemic started, fearing stores would run out but are now feeling better about buying fresh food.
A survey by Accenture in 15 countries, including Canada, found one in five online food shoppers are first-time users.
That has grocers struggling to meet the demand. In some U.S. states online food buying increased by 10 times.
Accenture says online commerce will persist after the pandemic with 37 per cent of all consumer purchases of goods and services online, up from the current 32 per cent.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
