2021 began with consumers eager to move away from 2020 and towards economic recovery. The vaccination rollout continued in full swing, and many started to make plans for the future, including spring and summer trips. Is this rise of consumer optimism in the new year helping fuel consumer foot traffic? 

To find out, we analyzed consumer foot traffic at different categories, including Entertainment and Services, to see what consumers were interested in at the start of 2021.

In Q1, total foot traffic increased for all categories, with the most foot traffic in Shopping and Outdoors & Recreation. 

Shopping and Outdoors & Recreation continued to have more consumer foot traffic compared to other categories. Entertainment – Nightlife had the least amount of foot traffic, along with Banking and Transportation.

While Shopping and Outdoors & Recreation had the most foot traffic, Restaurants & Food & Beer/Wine recovered the most dramatically. In March 2021, foot traffic to restaurants, food stores, wineries, and breweries was 6% higher than pre-pandemic levels. With the weather warming up, more diners might have ventured out to dine al-fresco. Despite spring break happening during March, consumers didn’t flock to hotels as much as expected; foot traffic to Accommodations was 32% lower, compared to February 2020.