According to weekly tracking from CivicScience, the percentage of consumers who plan to get food from a restaurant in the coming week declined once again this week (down 4pp since the end of April). At the same time, those who feel very concerned about inflation rose to a record high of 60%.
Decreasing restaurant plans may be, in part, due to price increases on menu items. We’re observing an increasing number of people report they’ve stopped themselves from eating at fast-food restaurants due to higher menu prices.
At the same time, a growing percentage of U.S. adults have refrained from purchasing something at the grocery store “many times” in the last month because of higher prices.
Groceries remain the top category that consumers anticipate spending more on in the next month, followed by household items.
With the baby formula shortage worsening in recent weeks, we see the concern over supply chain issues increasing, with those who feel “very concerned” rising to an all-time high of 38%.
Is Consumer Comfort Starting to Dip Due to Rise in Cases?
The percentage of those who feel “very concerned” about being in public spaces increased slightly this week but remains low (13%).
When it comes to the pandemic, consumer comfort resuming normal activities slightly decreased this week for most measured activities except for shopping in stores. Decreases were highest for attending major public events (-3pp) and eating at restaurants (-2pp). That could, however, be tied more to spending concerns as opposed to COVID concerns. Whether or not comfort continues to dip as cases rise remains to be seen.
CivicScience tracks all of this, all the time. The above data is merely the free version of what we send to clients every week. Want to be a partner? Learn more about what we do.
