How do we feel about buying locally sourced goods?

There is more awareness than ever before that locally produced goods are very important to our local economy.  But how do we feel about buying locally sourced goods?

‘Local’ is something that has been heavily communicated in Tesco’s new discount chain, Jack’s. Much of its POS highlights the message of food being locally sourced. For example 8 out of 10 products are British’ and ‘100% of our fresh meat is British’, and ‘All of our tea is blended in Britain.’

Jack’s is still in its infancy with only a handful of stores and an awareness level of 26% nationally (Nov 2018). However,  the link between locally sourced products and discounting is strong.

Just this month, the National Farmers’ Union has talked about how the UK could ‘run out of food within a year due to import difficulties of a no-deal Brexit.’

We partnered with Retail Week to understand how people feel about the shopping behaviour in the run-up to Brexit. This political decision has the potential to impact our supply chain, our product ranges, and especially our decision making.

Our human understanding.

We know that in times of uncertainty, people make decisions that ultimately change their purchasing behaviour. If prices rise as a result of leaving the EU, people concerned that they won’t be able to afford some of the things they buy regularly now.

We can see that, as the UK prepares to leave the EU, consumers are now significantly more likely to buy British products than they were two years ago.

If prices rise, 41% agree that they’d be prepared to pay a little bit more for products that are grown, produced or reared in Britain.

This seems a little surprising.

We know how concerned people feel about affordability in the event of price rises.

However, there is often a link between locally sourced products, higher quality, and in turn, a higher priced item. Typically, in the past, this has acted as a barrier to people actively choosing locally sourced vs cheaper alternatives.

This is changing.

Our research shows people will accept a higher priced item if it’s locally sourced.

Switching Behaviour.

There is a lot of talk of people switching from large multiples to the smaller discounters. 37% of shoppers agree that they plan to start doing their grocery shopping at discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl.

And it’s not just food.

33% agree that they’ll start buying clothing from discount shops such as Peacocks, Primark and Matalan.

Understanding our feelings.

The dialogue in the media will start to focus on the British Economy and its potential success. We know that there is more support amongst the public and the media for UK farmers and UK producers.

Buying locally sourced products has been a trend that has ebbed and flowed in recent times. Furthermore, shoppers felt excited initially about being able to purchase items from all over the world in the past. An exposure to a wider range and variety of products, and having ‘worldly’ culinary tastes.

However, the impact of the import / export market may cause people to shift back to British sourced products.

It’s a precarious time in British Politics as we await whether parliament will approve the Draft Agreement.

Shoppers too are playing a waiting game. We are all waiting to see what impact any deal will have on their day to day life.

You can read the full article here : https://www.retail-week.com/brexit/data-shoppers-more-likely-to-buy-british-than-in-2016/7030429.article