Sales trend 3 from the 12 Sales Trends for 2021 Report looks into how our buying behaviours changed in 2020, and what businesses can do to keep up with those changes.
By guest author Rebecca Varley – Roy Morgan
2020 brought some of the biggest changes we’ve ever seen, not just with respect to our behaviours, but also our attitudes. These changes have permeated through all aspects of our lives, including our shopping behaviours and attitudes.
Australian consumers have long shown a preference for purchasing Australian made products across a range of categories, not just food, with a marked preference for purchasing Australian made products that will go in or on your person, i.e. food and beverages, health and beauty, baby and childcare, pets and pet care, agriculture, and laundry products.
What we’ve seen across 2020 is that this preference for buying Australian made products has increased considerably and is translating into action with people actually and actively purchasing Australian made products across not only these, but other categories as well, including sporting goods, furniture, appliances, crockery, and haberdashery to name a few.
Whilst we’ve all enjoyed living in what felt like a continually expanding global world, the travel restrictions imposed by many countries in 2020, particularly coming of the back of the bushfire disaster from 2019, has forced us to look internally and appreciate what we have available at hand even more.
The Western seaboard has always had a preference for buying local and buying Australian, and now the Eastern seaboard is getting on board as well. Whilst this is minimally driven by a lack of availability of foreign owned products (push factor), Australian made products have a number of enticing pull factors in their favour:
- they are seen as being safer, better for you, ethically produced and made for Australian conditions;
- they help to stimulate the Australian economy and afford people the opportunity to support their local businesses and communities; and
- they’re more accessible than foreign made products, as there are no shipping or manufacturing delays
2021 outlook
Between COVID-19 and the bushfires, the focus for 2021 will be on sustainability and ensuring we, as an island, can be more self-sufficient. People want to purchase Australian made products, and by association, want Australians to be producing more products within Australia. People want to know (and are actively looking for information) on products, to ensure that they are buying Australian made products across almost all categories. They are looking online and on physical products – they want products that are Australian made, if not locally made.
Businesses that produce goods made in Australia need to ensure that they are promoting this – loudly and proudly. Businesses with foreign made products are going to need to fight hard to remain relevant in an increasing inward focused Australian market and will need to provide guarantees that address Australians key concerns – that products will always be available, or that they are supporting Australian communities in other ways.
Australians have always been loud and proud, but now they are actively working to purchase products that reflect this sentiment.
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Barrett supports the Women’s March 4 Justice, a community action organisation focused on achieving equality and justice in Australian society. On Monday 15th March, a petition will be presented by a group at Parliament House in Canberra, calling on the Prime Minister to act against gendered violence within Australian Parliament. Satellite events will take place in cities around Australia.
We have given the day off to everyone in the team who wants to attend the march. #EnoughIsEnough
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