18th December 2020 Data science firm dunnhumby has released findings from the sixth wave of its Consumer Pulse Survey, a study of the impact of Covid-19 on customer behaviour and attitudes across 21 countries. The latest survey found that US consumers plan on spending 25% less on food and 36% less on gifts this year, compared to 2019. 10% reported they would not be buying any gifts. This pullback in spending is occurring at the same time as consumers are increasingly worried about the virus, the economy, their personal finances and the rising cost of food. Americans are at the highest level of worry about the virus (32%) since the crisis began and the sixth highest country globally. The dunnhumby Worry Index score increased from a study low of 24% in September (Wave 5) and May (Wave 3) and jumped 8 percentile points in November, coinciding with the latest escalation of the pandemic. The “dunnhumby Worry Index” is a measure of how concerned consumers are about Covid-19.