The pandemic is lingering, but bit by bit, we are venturing out. The digital shift is firmly in place, too – but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be stuck indoors staring at screens forever.
With vaccinations in place, we’re itching to get out, to go back to our favorite real-world activities, congregating with friends and loved ones. But some caution reigns.
In the report “The Post-Pandemic Consumer at 18 Months: Spending Now, Worrying Later,” PYMNTS surveyed nearly 2,500 residents and found that half of them said they plan to shop, travel and dine out more often over the next three months. A bit more than a quarter said they plan to dine out through the next few months. But the data shows that concerns still linger: About 62% of those surveyed said they still have economic concerns tied to the pandemic, and nearly half still have health concerns.
See also: The Post-Pandemic Consumer at 18 Months
But the worries about actually contracting COVID have waned through the past several months, standing at about 29% of those surveyed, where earlier in the pandemic, those fears were prevalent among more than 72% of consumers.
When asked how they plan to change their behaviors going forward, in addition to dining out, a bit more than a quarter of consumers said they planned to travel domestically.
See also: The Post-Pandemic Consumer at 18 Months