Coresight Research’s latest survey of US consumers on the coronavirus outbreak was undertaken on April 8. In this report, we discuss the latest findings and compare them to those from prior weeks: April 1, March 25 and March 17–18. More Shoppers Cutting Discretionary Spending We saw a big week-over-week increase in the number of respondents buying more of certain categories, driven by a spike in food purchases. We saw a jump in the number buying less of certain categories too, supported by a jump in the number of respondents buying less in discretionary categories. This week, we found that some shoppers are returning to discretionary categories—but only in small numbers, and they are far outweighed by those cutting their spending.

• Among those whose buying habits have changed (i.e., buying more or buying less), a very large proportion expect these changed behaviors to last a significant period, and around one in five think it will take six months or more for their spending to return to normal levels.
• In a separate question, we found expectations of the length of the crisis continue to increase, with a large and growing proportion of all respondents expecting the severe impact of the outbreak to last more than six months from its start.

This timescale takes us up to the holiday season—and will prove a worrying finding for retailers. [caption id="attachment_107620" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Buying more of certain categories and buying less of certain categories were not mutually exclusive options and respondents could answer yes to both
Base: US Internet users aged 18+
Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   Most US Consumers Are Now Very Worried This week, 53.1% of respondents said they are extremely concerned about the outbreak, up very slightly from last week. [caption id="attachment_107621" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Base: US Internet users aged 18+
Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   Concerns about Jobs and Income We asked respondents to choose from a selection of statements related to employment and income.

• Around one in seven (13.6%) said they had already lost their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak.
• A roughly similar proportion are worried about losing their job.

  [caption id="attachment_107622" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Base: US Internet users aged 18+, surveyed on April 8
Source: Coresight Research [/caption]