35 per cent of Brits admit bulk buying amid war and inflation shortage fears, report claims
Warnings have been made against claims of stockpiling food after a report claimed 35 per cent have bulk bought items recently.
Consumers are reportedly purchasing items in scenes reminiscent of the start of the pandemic, amid concerns about falling production for items such as wheat and oil, impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Items such as canned food and lavatory paper, paracetamol and dried pasta, are among the items being hoarded, according to new data by Barclaycard. Of those polled, it found 35 per cent had stockpiled every day items, while 18 per cent had increased their purchasing of essential items.
Waitrose told City PM they were not experiencing stockpiling.
The British Retail Consortium echoed their concerns, saying: “We have no evidence of customers buying more than they need at this time”.
Waitrose also responded to its policy of limiting cooking oil, saying: “We want to ensure customers continue to have a choice of cooking oil so we are asking them to buy no more than two units each.”
The research also found the overwhelming majority – nine out of 10 – are concerned about the impact of rising bills, including for energy, on their personal finances, with habits changing, including for travel.
This morning, M&S announced it was cutting the price of a number of its items as the cost of living crisis bites.