Charity shops booming as families face squeeze
Charity donations are dropping but the shops are busier than ever, as Steve Cain finds out.
Many charity shops are seeing significantly more customers coming through their doors. Although this has led to increased sales, both stock donations and staffing levels have dropped. So, what are they doing to respond? Steve Cain investigates.
The UK’s charity shops are busier than ever. Shopping habits across the country are changing as household budgets are squeezed ever tighter, resulting in a rise in footfall for these retail outlets.
A survey, conducted exclusively for National World Publishing Limited, showed that, on average, Britain’s charity shops are now ten per cent busier than they were in 2019. And, a staggering 30 per cent of people who now shop in them had never used them before.
The rising cost of food, gas, electricity and fuel, combined with UK inflation hitting a 40year high and a fall in disposable income, means shopping habits are changing dramatically. This has resulted in an increase in customers buying from charity shops and a simultaneous fall in goods being donated to them.
“The good news is we are gaining new customers but stock levels have been affected because people have less spare income to replace items and so are hanging on to goods for longer,” said Amy Ockelford, Senior National Press Officer for the RSPCA.
This is in stark contrast to only a couple of years ago. Donations to charity shops saw an all-time high during the lockdowns as bored householders embarked upon massive COVID clear-outs. As a result, many charity shops, whose storerooms were filled to capacity but were unable to trade at the time, had to temporarily suspend accepting donations.
Some were still inundated with donations dumped in shop doorways.
But, with that backlog of healthy reserves now sold through and donations to charity stores
dropping considerably, many shops are heading for a significant stock shortage. In fact, 1.6 million fewer people donated goods to charity shops in 2021 than they did in 2020.
It seems that more and more of us have turned to online fee-free selling sites such as e-Bay and Vinted to rid ourselves of unwanted clothing and accessories and make a bit of money in the process. And, in an attempt to ease the squeeze, the humble car boot sale is resurging in popularity, too.
The crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine have also affected High street charity shops, with high-profile campaigns diverting attention and the public rallying to support aid efforts for those struggling in these countries.
As if that were not enough, many charity shops are also encountering acute staffing shortages.
“During COVID, many shop volunteers with health issues stopped volunteering and, for genuine reasons, have not returned,” said Amy.
Additionally, some loyal volunteers who may not have previously claimed travel expenses have been lost, whilst others have needed to start submitting claims for such expenditure.
“Volunteers often feel like they are taking away from the charity,” said Amy. “But their time and efforts are invaluable and they should be encouraged to make expense claims. Our shop ambassadors are true champions and are very passionate about the causes they support.”
Such circumstances have led to some charities launching recruitment drives in an attempt to attract and recruit more volunteers to staff the shops.
“In any crisis we know that social support and community is vital for people’s mental health and, in a cost of living crisis, there isn’t a better time to get involved and volunteer in a shop when you can,” said Freya Carr, senior PR manager for Save The Children UK.
However, staff shortages have led to retail teams pulling together to meet the challenges head-on and come up trumps with new sales initiatives.
“The online selling business has really taken off – one of the push-triggers of COVID – giving the sector a significant boost on sales and reaching new customers,’ said Amy.
“Clothing (ladieswear, in particular) continues to be the top-seller, according to all the charities that participated in our survey, accounting for a staggering 78 per cent of sales. Essential household items, such as cookware, are also performing strongly and there are slight increases on menswear and toys which were, traditionally, the weaker sections.”
As might be expected nonessential items, including brica-brac and giftware, are selling less well.
“It’s sad that customers on the lower incomes have minimised their shopping on homewares out of necessity,” said Amy. “So, although we have gained new customers, our existing customers have decreased their spending due to priorities such as food and fuel.”
“To top it all off, some costconscious customers are now attempting to haggle with charity shop staff over the price of the stock on sale. Misconceptions abound, with some customers believing that because the charity paid nothing for the stock it should be sold more cheaply. The response to this, from the charities who participated in our survey, was pretty unanimous: all you do is sell more stock, work twice as hard and only make half the money you should be making for the charity.”
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the rise of discount high street clothing stores selling ‘fast-fashion’ at affordable prices may have been another blow for the UK’s charity shops. Happily, this is not the case.
“We don’t try to compete with high street stores selling products for a few pounds,” said Freya. “We are selling quality pre-loved items, preventing them ending up in landfill.”
Furthermore, many charity shops receive valuable donations from those with the highest incomes who may not be so affected by the economic crisis.
“Our generous donors regularly donate high-end brands,” said Amy. “We can sell these for high street prices so the competition is somewhat reversed, in that sense, with a growing number of vintage/ boutique stores opening.”
Additionally, supporting charity shops can have environmental benefits, too.
“Charity shops are a far more sustainable option to high street stores selling brand new clothing,” said Freya.
“And, what’s more, the money we raise within our charity shops enables us to support families in the UK battling the cost-of-living crisis, as well as families facing conflict, hunger or climate change around the world.”