E-commerce tool to make buying British products easier may arrive

Thursday, March 16, 2017 - 09:08 by Graham Miller

This week MPs have suggested that consumers in the UK could soon find it easier to buy domestically sourced groceries via safe shopping online if supermarkets can be encouraged to add a ‘Buy British’ button to their websites.

The Telegraph reports that this step has been suggested as a way of propping up the nation’s economy in a post-Brexit world, making it just as easy to spot food items produced in Britain online as it already is in bricks and mortar outlets.

This move has already received the backing of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and politicians are now hoping that the government will roll out this policy so that people have a better idea of where the groceries they buy online originate.

MP Julian Sturdy spoke out in favour of the idea during a debate in parliament this week, with other representatives adding their support.

Food labelling is an oft discussed topic and an area of retail that has undergone significant changes in recent years, most of which are felt more keenly on the high street than they are in the realm of e-commerce. But the proposed Buy British button could level the playing field and help UK farmers sell more of their produce via safe shopping online.

NFU spokesperson, Meurig Raymond, said that surveys commissioned by the organisation had shown that the vast majority of consumers in the UK are eager to increase the number of domestically grown groceries that they buy, making this change in policy a welcome one.

Observers have pointed out that this might also help the country to overcome future shortages of foods which are normally imported from elsewhere, as consumers would be more likely to shop for domestic items and thus buy seasonally appropriate foodstuffs.