A new survey of Australian consumers on their experiences of shopping in different sectors during COVID-19 has found P&C consistently performed well.
The Australian Retail Sector Comparison COVID-19 Shopper Survey, by company Field Agent, asked 600 shoppers to rate their experiences in supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol and convenience stores, fashion retailers, general retail and food and drink stores. Stores visited by customers surveyed included Coles, ALDI, Target, bp, 7-Eleven and Mc Donald’s among others.
When it came to the all important question of how safe customers felt shopping in store, supermarkets – not surprisingly given the larger crowd sizes, ranked lowest, with shoppers awarding a score of 3.8 out of five. Pharmacies were considered the safest, scoring 4.2, followed by P&C at 4.
However when it came to communication from stores on the impacts and changes due to the pandemic, supermarkets ranked highest, with 94% of shoppers reporting satisfaction with store signage, compared with 78% of P&C shoppers. However, P&C ranked highest for complying with caps on customer numbers. Of those surveyed, 95% reported compliance, compared to just under half of supermarket shoppers, at 49%.
P&C also rated highest when it came to staff maintaining a 1.5 metre distance from customers, with 91% of shoppers satisfied with social distancing measures. This was followed by fashion at 74%, pharmacies at 73%, food and drink at 71%, general retail at 63% and supermarkets, the lowest, at 52%.
Supermarkets took out the top spot when it came to in-store cleaning and 61% of shoppers reported seeing staff actively cleaning, followed by food and drink at 57%, while P&C scored 27%.
Supermarkets and P&C also led the adoption of sneeze guards at registers, with 92% and 82% of customers respectively reporting they were in place where they shopped. P&C also scored highest on signage for signage encouraging card transactions.