Shopping takes a turn

Despite social distancing rules, students are still shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic. The way they shop is changing.

There are mainly two options when it comes to how they choose to shop: online or in store. However, at the start of the quarantine in-store shopping was not an option, due to customer health and safety concerns. Now the stores are open and customer shopping preference has been affected.

Businesses have made adjustments to their stores by adding a variety of safety measures to decrease Covid spreadability and ensure customer health.

“They have hand sanitizer, mandatory use of masks, complementary masks in the front of stores, and social distancing markers on the floor,” sophomore Sofia Castellan said.

These new safety measures make shoppers more comfortable when going to stores, improving the quality of their visits and making them more likely to return in the future.

“I felt safest in stores like Nordstrom and Godiva because they limited the amount of people who could enter and offered complimentary masks and hand sanitizer,” Castellan said.

However, stores that were more lenient with social distancing rules left customers feeling unsafe.

“When I went to Zara I noticed that social distancing wasn’t being enforced to its full extent and it made me uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I would go back,” sophomore Eva Matute said.

Considering current events, many more people find themselves turning to online shopping. According to PYMNTS, a commerce-based platform, a survey found that 29% of U.S. consumers were retail shopping online at the start of the COVID pandemic in April. This rate has now risen to 36%.

Online shopping has also grown in popularity among students, since many prefer to stay home and find themselves with extra time. However, it does have its downsides.

“I prefer online shopping because it’s the safer option and you can do it from home,” Matute said, “but you don’t get to try on clothes before you buy them.”