Brits shunning material goods in favour of value for money and ‘togetherness’

It has long been said that too many people spend money to buy things they don’t want, just to impress people that they don’t like… But in this new, fast-changing world it would seem that our thoughts and feelings about shopping have been directly impacted by COVID19.

The data, from Studio.co.uk, suggests that the pandemic has made over 6 million of us think about the value or the experience things are going to give us, rather than simply just material goods. Brits say they are now looking to only buy things that they can use again and again (43%) or that will make memories with their loved ones (12%).

What is interesting is that many people previously felt the word ‘value’ was associated with being ‘cheap’, however,  since the pandemic over 70% of us now think this is incorrect, with value now being associated with high quality at a low price. This togetherness spirit – which we have seen people adapt to during the pandemic – also extends to shopping. 18% of the UK have got together on video tech such as Zoom to shop together online. It sounds bizarre, but it is a perfect example of how retail is changing following the global pandemic.

Aston spoke to finance expert Mrs Mummypenny to highlight how peoples attitudes towards money and shopping have changed during the pandemic – including hopping onto Zoom to shop together with their friends and family.

Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash