In-store apparel purchases increased substantially, returning close to the level seen during the holiday season last year, according to Coresight Research’s Consumer Tracker of February 22 of U.S. consumers.

For the first time in the weekly survey, which probes consumers’ behaviors and expectations, with a focus on implications for retailers, Coresight found that the proportion of consumers that reported purchasing clothing and footwear in-store surpassed the proportion buying online.

Some 79 percent of respondents are currently avoiding any public place, down almost eight percentage points from last week. Coresight reported that the proportion of consumers that reported avoiding shopping centers/malls dropped to the lowest level seen in its survey, a positive sign for retailers.

Following increases over in recent weeks, the proportion of consumers that reported buying food from Target rose to the highest level seen in our survey, at 23 percent. Target overtook Kroger banners as the second ranking retailer for food purchases among respondents.

During the week of February 22, in-store apparel purchases increased substantially, returning close to the level seen during the holiday season last year. Moreover, some 13 percent of respondents reported buying more clothing and footwear than pre-crisis—the highest level in our survey so far this year.

Meanwhile, the apparel category witnessed the largest decline, of almost six percentage points, in consumers that are buying less than pre-crisis. As a result, the ratio of the proportion of respondents buying less than pre-crisis to the proportion buying more fell to 1.9, from 3.1 last week.

The complete Coresight report is available for free and can be accessed by registering for a free account.