Consumers feel the safest shopping in grocery stores and drug stores — but some more than others.
As stores begin to reopen, retail predictive analytics company, First Insight asked U.S. consumers which store formats they felt safe in while shopping. Grocery stores topped the list, at 54%, followed by drug store chains, 50%; big-box retailers, 45%; small businesses, 43%; warehouse clubs, 43%; and department stores, 37%.
The results, however, differed by gender, with men generally feeing shopping in retail formats of all types than women. For example, 58% of men generally feel safe shopping at a grocery store compared to 49% of women. Similarly, 49% of men surveyed feel safe shopping at big-box retailers, versus 43% of women, the smallest percentage difference. More men (47%) also feel safer than women (39%) shopping at local small businesses.
The First Insight survey also found that 80% of respondents prefer to use their own face masks and 70% prefer to use their own gloves rather than masks or gloves provided by the retailer when shopping in-store.
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