During the height of the coronavirus crisis and the resulting health restrictions and lockdown, Israeli citizens were forced to make many changes – where they worked, how they shopped (or didn’t shop), how they traveled from place to place and how they accessed medical care.

According to a survey of Israeli adults, conducted by TASC, a management consulting firm, and i-Panel, a data collection agency, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, Israelis are doing more of their shopping at small neighborhood grocery stores rather than large supermarkets, and as expected, they’re using the internet more – to shop and access medical care.

Israelis are also opting to use their cars rather than public transportation, with 41% of Israelis saying they plan on using buses and trains less. On the other hand, 15% said they actually plan on using public transportation more often than before. The survey didn’t ask why but it’s possible that the financial straits that some Israelis have found themselves in may play a part.

More cars on already overcrowded Israeli roads is bad news although it’s possible that more people working from home may offset the decrease in public transportation use.

The transportation ministry has already been actively working on solving the problem of overcrowded roads and the resulting traffic jams, with one method being a possible congestion tax on cars. According to the survey, 42% said they would change their mode of transportation to avoid a congestion tax – with a quarter of Israelis saying they would choose to work at home to avoid the tax, 10% would use a bicycle or electric scooter to get to work and only 8% would resort to pubic transportation.

Like all over the world, thousands of Israelis worked at home for the first time during the coronavirus crisis and many were happy with the arrangement, although only 4% of Israelis worked at home pre-pandemic. A full 30% expect to work at home at least partially in the future, with some work done from home and some at the office.

Work is essential and Israelis will continue working in one way or another, either at home or at the office – getting there by bike, train or car. But not everything is essential – such as large purchases – and the survey found that over half of Israelis who were planning on purchasing a new car in the next two years are reconsidering.

As far as essential purchases, this is an area that has seen the most change, with trends years in the making completely reversing themselves. Of the 44% of Israelis who said they changed their shopping habits during the pandemic, two-thirds of them said they switched to shopping in small grocery stores rather than supermarkets to avoid crowds.

A total of 43% said they would be frequenting malls less than before the coronavirus and would instead shop at downtown areas where stores are located on the streets. Pre-pandemic, supermarkets and malls were on the upswing.

Interestingly, the survey found that although Israelis increased their online grocery shopping by 20%, their online shopping fell by 30% for clothing, 20% for electronics, 17% for toys and 8% for cosmetics – possibly due to heightened financial constraints.

Of course, online shopping requires online payment and 71% of Israelis intend to adopt advanced payment methods such as bank apps or Paypal.

The TASC/i-Panel survey found that a third of Israelis are now using remote medicine versus 20% pre-pandemic, with virtual doctor appointments rising to 50% from 21% in the general population, to 21% from 7% in the Chareidi population and from 31% to 24% in the Israeli Arab population.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)