More than Half of All Americans Say They’re Not Comfortable Returning to Restaurants, Hotels
SafetyCulture, a platform for workplace safety and efficiency, debuted findings from a timely new national survey with partner YouGov, of 1198 U.S. consumer respondents. The survey assessed consumer comfort levels interacting with businesses over the next three months, and asked which actions they feel businesses must take to earn both employee and consumer trust and confidence. The survey clearly shows many consumers are uncomfortable visiting retailers, restaurants and hotels, and also that there are specific actions businesses can take now to earn both worker and consumer trust and confidence.
As the U.S. gears up for Independence Day celebrations on July 4th, the country prepares for what many are calling “low key” celebrations. According to the new survey, however, many people may not be comfortable shopping for traditional hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks to celebrate the occasion, nor are they making plans to dine or stay out on the holiday, because many are still uncomfortable with visiting retail stores, restaurants and hotels.
Key findings from the survey include the following:
- Nearly 3/4 of American consumers (71%) would not feel “very comfortable” shopping in a physical retail store over the next 3 months.
- More than half of Americans (52%) would feel “very uncomfortable” (28%) or “Somewhat uncomfortable” (24%) dining in a restaurant/bar over the next 3 months.
- More than half of Americans (54%) would feel “very uncomfortable” (25%) or “Somewhat uncomfortable” (29%) staying at a hotel over the next 3 months.
- Nearly 2/3 of U.S. workers (63%) would not be “very comfortable” returning to the workplace over the next 3 months.
- More than half of Americans (53%) said that a publicly displayed list of daily safety procedures being undertaken by a business for public areas, with completion status publicly shown, would increase trust and confidence in that business (i.e. rated either 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-5, with 5 as increasing trust and confidence the most).
- More than half of consumers (57%) say that businesses making public a real-time list of cleaning and disinfecting activities completed hourly throughout the day would increase trust and confidence in that business, with the same scale as noted above.
“The nationwide survey results clearly show many consumers are not yet comfortable resuming even the most basic of public activities, yet there is a way forward,” commented Bob Butler, General Manager, North America, with SafetyCulture. “There is a clear opportunity here for businesses to take specific actions that will increase employee and consumer confidence and we’re here to support them as they do so. We’re pleased to be able to help companies get access to global expertise, and thousands of free checklists and COVID-19 guidelines.”
This research is being released as part of the SafetyCulture Safely Back to Business initiative. The program supports companies globally at a time when safety has become the world’s top business priority. The company has digitized guidance from governments and leading industry bodies into simple to use, and fully-customizable checklists. More than 100,000 checklist templates are currently available online here, free of charge, to support businesses in their efforts to keep customers and staff safe.
More than 75,000 individuals worldwide are using SafetyCulture’s iAuditor app to complete daily COVID-19 risk assessments and inspections. To download the app and access free COVID-19 checklists covering a wide range of industries, visit: https://safetyculture.com/covid-response/
For full survey results, please visit the following link: https://blog.safetyculture.com
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1198 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24th - 25th June 2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults (aged 18+).