Covid drives shift to shop local

Elisha Watson, founder of ethical underwear brand Nisa, says the pandemic experience has prompted many New Zealanders to try to spend their money close to home.

‘‘The Covid period was an amazing time for us. Usually we can fill our orders in a single day, during that period it took us three months,’’ she said. ‘‘I think a lot of it was to do with people panicking that they would lose their favourite brands and local businesses that they love. Everyone had the same thought, ‘we need to go out and make our purchases count’.’’

New research from MYOB shows that her experience was not unique. Its survey of more than 500 New Zealand consumers found 77 per cent made most of their purchases at local stores and 24 per cent said they visited local shops more than before the pandemic. The numbers are a significant increase from 2019, when only 54 per cent of consumers claimed they shopped local.

Krissy Sadler-Bridge, senior sales manager at MYOB, said: ‘‘We certainly saw during Covid a desire from consumers to support the businesses in their community. We are all conscious of the communities we live in. During Covid when we saw businesses reducing staff numbers and closing up, that drove consumers to shop local and support their area.’’

Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group said Covid-19 forced consumers to ‘‘find local solutions’’.

‘‘There was an awareness of how important local businesses would be as people rediscovered their own communities.’’