According to IRI's new survey, shoppers in the UK are moving towards 'geocentric purchasing', with more than half of the participants opting for local brands.
Respondents cited better taste and quality, environmental factors, and an extension of support to local producers as the primary reasons behind choosing local products.
However, the study also found that older shoppers showed a preference for buying local, while millennials aged between 18 and 24 years were heavily inclined towards buying international brands.
Over 50% of shoppers in this age group prefer to spend on big brands, except for fresh food.
Barriers
Price emerged as a major barrier for local products across all age groups, with a third of the respondents finding these products to be more expensive than big brands.
Shoppers were also concerned about the lack of availability and limited assortment in local products, with 39% of respondents not being able to find the products they needed and 24% saying that they would need to go to other stores to buy them.
Also, 27% of the respondents were worried about the local brands being ‘unknown’.
'Authenticity and Provenance'
The survey also found that UK shoppers were heavily inclined towards buying fresh food locally, including milk, eggs, yoghurt and cheeses, compared to packaged food, frozen food, and personal- and beauty-care products.
The senior regional insights manager at IRI, Olly Abotorabi, said, “In the UK, in particular, we have a vibrant and innovative ‘local scene’, where challenger brands are emerging as winners, driven by huge amounts of creativity and a desire for authenticity and provenance.
“Increased uptake of free-from and vegan products and movements like plastic-free and zero food miles are often well embodied by smaller, challenger players,” added Abotorabi.
IRI’s new Shopper Survey examined the shopping habits and purchasing behaviours of 3,300 shoppers across seven European countries, including the UK.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
