Most Irish consumers say they will shop locally this Christmas

The vast majority of Irish consumers want to shop locally this Christmas to support businesses in their community and more than half say they will do most if not all of their shopping close to home this year.

According to new research from Visa 76 per cent of consumers plan to make a conscious effort to shop local following the relaxing of restrictions to Level 3 last week.

It also says that 86 per cent of consumers are worried about the future of local businesses in their community and express concern that the impact of the pandemic might hurt their local communities.

52 per cent say they will do most, if not all, of their shopping with local stores this Christmas with many shoppers keen to repay local businesses for going above and beyond during lockdown.

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The survey shows that 76 per cent of the public praise shops for providing support to their community while 79 per cent hailed shops in their community for delivered essential food and items to vulnerable customers during the crisis .

The research suggests that two thirds of Irish people have noticed local businesses adapting services to offer online shopping as well as investing in safety measures, with three quarters saying they had increased peace because local shops had adopted measures such as plexiglass screens and mask wearing.

Consumers appear keen to support local businesses wherever possible, with 75 per cent of people saying they feel better about themselves when shopping locally, as they are supporting a store in their community.

A third of those polled said they prefer to shop local because they know where their money is going while a similar number said the personal touch they receive is the reason the have started to shop locally.

"While, for many of us, shopping locally is simply a convenient way to purchase goods and services, for local business owners, it's the lifeline they rely on, especially in these challenging times," said Visa's Ireland manager Philip Konopik.

He said Christmas was a crucial trading period and it was asking the public “to consider doing more of their Christmas shopping with local businesses, either in-store or online, and help to provide a vital boost to our local communities.”