Stay at home shopping equates to 12.9 billion pounds

A seismic shift in consumer spending has emerged since the UK went into lockdown. The ‘isolation economy,’ as it is dubbed, is worth 12.9 billion pounds, despite households spending less in general.

A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebre) and Legal & General equates the increase spending to four key categories, including groceries and household essentials, alcohol, entertainment and hobbies & crafts

Those who are employed were found to be spending an average of 107 pounds a week on the four key categories, a 10 per cent increase compared with pre-lockdown levels.

“The isolation economy is a new feature of our daily lives and now encompasses some 13 billion pounds a year of the consumer economy,” Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said.

“As the hub of the isolation economy, the home is becoming a more flexible space, doubling up as a place for schooling, work, fitness and entertaining – and we can expect changes to the way we think about and design homes for future home owners.”

Shops in local communities may also benefit from people’s changed habits, with 60 per cent of people planning to buy more products in local stores to help the local economy in the longer term.

More than half (58 per cent) of people said they would be willing to pay more for products that have been made in Britain, rather than imported from overseas.

Some online retailers are seeing a spike in sales

Berlin-based retail platform Zalando last week said it expects to see a double digit growth in 2020, with Q1 revenue up 10.6 percent. The company said its growth was due to the consumer shopping shift from offline to online which sees brands transferring more of their business online as their physical stores remain closed.

Overstock, a Salt Lake city-based online retailer that sells designer fashion and home goods at the lowest prices online saw its April sales increase 120 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

Image courtesy Zalando; Article source the Retail Gazette