February 2020 US Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics: Traffic Decline Steepens as Coronavirus Fears Impact Shopper Behavior

What's Inside

US store traffic slid at its fastest rate in years since May 2019, accelerating sharply from the decline seen in January as coronavirus fears increasingly affected consumer behavior, mainly the desire to avoid crowded locations such as stores.

This report looks at how coronavirus-affected shopping is manifesting, including:

• Retail traffic slid, but those who did venture out came with the intention to buy.
• Transaction volume also slid far more quickly than in January.
• The Northeast saw the sharpest decline in traffic, but the slowest decline in sales as people stocked up.