Consumers Aim to Avoid Waste and Improve Sustainability in Post-Pandemic World

Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - 13:19 by Graham Miller

A survey conducted by Accenture suggests that shoppers from across the UK and around the world are not only going to make more sustainable choices when placing orders via safe shopping online but are also going to alter their habits to prevent their purchases leading to waste.

Internet Retailing reports that 45 per cent of respondents to the study said that they were intending to pursue eco-friendly alterations to their retail activities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with this ongoing crisis causing many to rethink their approach to e-commerce.

Almost two-thirds of those questioned said that they were working to limit the amount of food waste that their household generates, presumably as a result of the fact that product shortages have hampered the grocery market in recent weeks.

50 per cent claimed that they had managed to eat more healthily in the wake of the viral outbreak, with this positive change seen as something that they will attempt to maintain even after restrictions are lifted.

Study spokesperson Oliver Wright said that it was becoming more apparent that the short-term effects of COVID-19 would be followed on by more significant and permanent changes to consumer habits in months and years to come. This could even bring about shifts which many environmental campaigners have been pushing for.

32 per cent of respondents said that they were now solely making use of online shopping sites to buy goods, with analysts anticipating that this proportion will continue to grow as more nations extend lockdown restrictions and the opportunities to visit bricks and mortar retailers remain limited

While there is an extent to which external circumstances have forced consumers to change their buying habits, it is interesting to see that in many cases these shifts in spending are being made voluntarily.