• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 13, 2020

As nonessential stores around the country make plans to reopen, retail experts are increasingly aware that while people are eager to start shopping again, they’re plenty worried, too.

Their biggest fear, according to new research from Shopkick? Other shoppers. Thirty-two percent say they're concerned that people won’t respect stores’ precautionary measures.

While reports of violence are small, they’re growing. Two men recently broke the arm of a Target employee in California when asked to wear masks. A Family Dollar security guard in Michigan was shot and killed for the same reason. And an entire city -- Stillwater, Oklahoma -- did away with mask requirements after someone threatened to shoot those who tried to enforce it.

About 50% of the people Shopkick surveyed say they plan to shop at a nonessential store in the first week it opens, says Josh Lamb, senior vice president of marketing for the Redwood City, California-based company. “That’s higher than we expected,” he says. “And 18% say they intend to do so in the first three days. People are eager to get back out there.”

Tellingly, though, 22% say they don’t intend to shop at such stores for at least a month.

By age, Gen Z consumers are most eager, with 27% saying they intend to do so within three days. Shopkick, a shopping rewards app, fielded the research the first week in May, including 10,000 people in the study.

But safety is a big concern. People are expecting retailers to take visible precautions, with 81% saying they want six-foot distances; 73%, hand sanitizers; 71%, masks for employees; and 65%, plexiglass barriers at checkout. And 62% want fellow shoppers to be required to wear face coverings.

First stores on the list? Clothing and shoe stores (61%), beauty stores (50%), home improvement (42%) and hobby stores (39%.) And online’s impact is bigger than ever, with 70% of those in the survey saying they will use buy online, pickup in-store options.

Lamb tells Marketing Daily  he expects these nonessential retailers to follow the playbook of the grocery chains and mass retailers that remained open during the pandemic. “We’re going to see stores reopen gradually, in soft launches rather than grand openings. There is much to do in terms of training people to manage crowds, diffuse conflict and still stay on brand.”

He expects experiential stores, like Niketown or Apple’s Genius Bar, will have an especially steep learning curve. “Before this all started, those stores were the ones that were really gaining relevance. But as people look to streamline their shopping, stores built to make people linger are going to have a tougher road.”