What: The consumer behavior study revealed changes in comfort levels, the impact of the delta variant and increased expectations for store associates.

Why it is important: Even with the Delta variant to consider, new findings from NewStore, the omnichannel store solution, show that 42% of consumers will not change how often they shop in-store.

The survey also revealed that 45% of consumers even feel more comfortable shopping in-store now than they did a year ago. Interestingly, consumers age 65 and over were the most comfortable at 60%, compared to just 41% of consumers age 55 to 64 and 46% of those between the ages of 45 to 54. Just 36% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 24 and 39% of consumers 25 to 34 say they were more comfortable shopping in-store now than they were last year.

At the same time, nearly 30% of consumers said their expectations for store associates have increased since the pandemic. Among the growing expectations for associates was the demand for a more seamless checkout. Customers also want to be able to meet them for curbside pickup, and expect them to be equipped with a mobile device in-store.

Other expectations for store associates included being able to share store inventory without having to physically check, the ability to return or exchange an online purchase in-store without a receipt and the ability to sell a shopper something that isn’t available in-store and ship it.

Consumers also expect store associates to communicate with them outside of the in-store experience. This includes 22% of consumers saying they believe that store associates should meet virtually through video chat for a 1:1 shopping appointment and 37% of consumers also said they believed store associates should be able to text them about new arrivals, product availability, promotions and store events.

Consumers are Becoming More Demanding of Store Associates