Shoppers are exercising more caution as the COVID-19 Delta variant spreads.

Shoppers are exercising more caution as the COVID-19 Delta variant spreads. While the summer was expected to be a big spending season for American consumers, the Delta variant is causing many to revert to earlier pandemic behaviors. According to research from Numerator, the number of people who say they’ve resumed pre-COVID behaviors fell from 39% in July to 27% in August, and the comfort level of shopping without a mask dropped 15 percentage points from July to August (YPulse research shows that 42% of young consumers have started wearing masks in public spaces because of the Delta variant). Tourism is also slowing down, with leisure travel declining seven percentage points from July to August. YPulse asked young consumers at the beginning of summer what activities they are comfortable doing right now, with more than half saying they’re comfortable shopping in-person, but as the pandemic continues to evolve, online shopping could outperform in-person shopping this fall and holiday season. Berkeley Research Group found that nearly 60% of consumers will use a mix of online and in-person shopping for the holidays, with just 13% planning to entirely shop in physical stores. (Retail Dive)