Almost three-quarters of UK shoppers would be interested in shopping from bagless fruit and vegetable aisles and refill stations, a leading data and analytics company has found.
Research from GlobalData reveals around 71% would be willing to use such services.
The 2,000-strong survey found the main reason people would not use a refill facility was an unwillingness to take containers to a store.
Some 19% thought it would be more expensive than buying packaged items.
GlobalData said the solution could be to provide shoppers with recyclable paper bags or to offer a discount as an incentive for bringing reusable containers - a commonplace tactic in coffee chains.
Hannah Thomson, retail analyst at GlobalData, said retailers were keen to prove they were acting responsibly and responding to consumers’ concerns amid growing awareness of the harmful effects of single-use plastics on the environment.
“After initial set-up costs, retailers could benefit from selling certain goods unpackaged and removing packaging costs,” she added. “Waitrose has said that its ‘Unpacked’ trial resulted in cost savings from goods arriving in-store in reusable containers.”
Unpacked: a closer look at Waitrose’s plastic-free trial
Waitrose is due to extend its trial of selling products without packaging because of an “incredible” reaction to its Botley Road, Oxfordshire pilot.
The ‘Unpacked’ concept is to extend to a branch in Cheltenham this month and two more in Abingdon and Wallingford in November.
GlobalData found around 44% of 16 to 24-year-olds who had bought from food stores in July this year had also used a refill station in the past 12 months, compared with 35% of 25 to 34-year-olds and just a quarter of 35 to 44-year-olds.
The least-cited reason for not wishing to buy unpackaged items was a preference for branded products.
“This leaves retailers free to switch suppliers in search of the best margins, and should give them the confidence to use suppliers that are able to deliver in bulk instead of in packaging, and not worry about customers’ brand loyalty,” said Thomson.
A minority - 18% - said they were not bothered about reducing their use of single-use plastic, while 16% said it would be less convenient than buying packaged items and 16% preferred to buy branded products.
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