How will a year of on-off restrictions impact how we shop going forward? As we near the end of lockdown, Retail Week teams up with Walnut Unlimited to ask consumers what their post-lockdown spending priorities are and how they differ to life before Covid.

After a year of on-off restrictions, retailers may be hoping that the reopening of retail next month – a significant milestone in the government’s roadmap to normality – brings with it a spending splurge.

However, over half of UK consumers are planning to save money as lockdown unwinds with just 14% expecting to splash the cash, according to exclusive consumer research from Walnut Unlimited for Retail Week.

Younger shoppers are more likely to make up for lost time and experiences with 24% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 18% of 25- to 34-year-olds looking to spend more as lockdown ends, compared to just 9% of over-75s and 14% of 65- to 74-year-olds. 

 

Travel is the area that consumers plan to spend the most on when they are released from lockdown with 27% expecting to spend more this year than they did pre-Covid, while 22% plan to splurge more on retail.

 

DIY sales will continue to thrive

DIY, a sector that has been resilient throughout the pandemic, looks set to be retail’s top performer.

Just over a quarter of respondents (26%) said they would spend more on home and DIY products this year than they did pre-Covid.

It would appear that people have caught the DIY bug after a year in which they’ve spent their time and money improving the houses they are spending an increasing amount of their lives in. A surge in house moves stimulated by the stamp duty holiday has also driven this trend. 

Walnut Unlimited research director Amy Nichols says: “We’ve all spent significantly more time in our homes than ever before – it is no surprise to see that home and DIY features in our spending plans this year. Our home is linked to our intrinsic sense of self.”

The next most popular post-lockdown category for spending was entertainment at 19%. 

In terms of gender split, the survey found men plan to spend more on entertainment and technology, while women are looking to spend more on beauty and fashion. 

 

Where will we shop?

In 2020, online penetration jumped from 19.2% to 27.8% as store closures forced people to turn to ecommerce to buy what they needed. After a year of shopping this way it seems this behaviour has stuck, with 28% of shoppers saying they will spend more online this year than pre-Covid, making it the biggest winner in terms of retail channel.

 

However, a quarter of shoppers plan to spend more at local high streets than they did before the pandemic, illustrating that the trend towards localism is here to stay. This is perhaps no surprise given that remote working is expected to be here for the foreseeable future.

Shopping centres and city centres were less popular, with only 16% of shoppers planning to spend more at these destinations.

However, somewhat surprisingly, retail parks ranked as the destination people were least likely to spend more at, with just 14% of consumers planning to spend more than pre-pandemic levels.

Retail parks proved the most resilient destination during the pandemic as shoppers felt safer driving to such stores, which tend to be more spacious.

Over Christmas Next said its retail park shops performed around 15% better than other destinations. Meanwhile, Springboard said that over the course of 2020 retail park footfall fell 23% compared to a 45.2% plummet on high streets and a 41.5% nosedive in shopping centres.

However, this trend looks likely to be a temporary one judging by where consumers say they plan to shop going forward.