As the world continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus and social distancing guidelines extended through April 30 , a growing number of retailers are using the same technology that has helped with crowd control during holiday shopping to limit potential exposure to COVID-19 for consumers and employees. Buy-online and pickup-in-store orders, which includes curbside, jumped 87% year over year between late February and March 29th, according to data from Adobe Analytics.
“As the public became more informed on COVID-19, we saw a rush to stock up on essentials," Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst for Adobe, told USA TODAY. “But, increased awareness of social distancing meant that consumers grew weary of spending too much time inside physical stores.”