More than half of EU consumers have environmental impact in mind when shopping, a new survey by the European Commission has found.
The annual Consumer Conditions Scoreboard found that consumers in Southern Europe (59%) and Eastern Europe (57%) are the most environmentally-conscious while shopping, while 71% of retailers believe that environmental claims made about products and services in their sector are reliable.
Consumer Conditions
The Scoreboard also found that the overall gap in consumer conditions is narrowing across the different regions of the EU.
In Western Europe, consumer conditions have seen a decline, however Southern and Eastern European countries are narrowing the gap with the EU average. That said, the difference between the highest scoring country (Sweden, with 71%) and the lowest (Croatia, with 53%) remains 'significant', the report said.
More than two-thirds of consumers (70%) trust retailers to respect their consumer rights, the study also found, while 70% of retailers noted that they 'find it easy' to comply with consumer legislation.
Finally, online purchasing continues to gain pace across the region, with the percentage of consumers buying online reaching 60% in 2018, and continuing to progress 'in spite of strong disparities' – 84% of Danish consumers buy online, for example, compared to 20% in Romania and Bulgaria.
Trust In Retailers
“The latest figures show that over 70% of consumers trust retailers to respect their rights, but they also show that work to improve consumer conditions and trust must continue," commented Věra Jourová, EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.
"And the New Deal for Consumers will indeed further strengthen the hand of consumers and authorities. I am glad to see that consumers are increasingly aware of their environmental footprint when shopping. As the Christmas season approaches, I encourage all consumers to engage with trustworthy traders, know their rights, and indeed buy responsibly.”
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
