People are willing to spend over £20 more in order to support local jewellers, according to research from spend management platform Capital on Tap.
Based on a survey of 2,000 UK adults, people would spend £20.58 extra while shopping in smaller, local jewellery shops.
This figure is second only to art shops, which people are willing to spend an additional £24.65 on in order to avoid big name alternatives.
Shoppers from Edinburgh were found to be most likely to spend more with smaller jewellery businesses, with respondents stating they’d pay an average £28.07 extra.
This is followed closely by York and Liverpool at the £26 mark, with Brighton and Hove, Southampton, Norwich, and Belfast all cracking the top 10.
The same survey found that millennials are the most willing to spend additional money on small business products, with an average spend of £15.33, closely following by Gen Z at £14.69.
One in five people (21%) prefer shopping with smaller businesses, with over half (52%) saying that this is primarily motivated by the appeal of unique and personalised products.
Brighton residents are the most inclined to shop small, with 68% regularly opting to support the local economy.
On the opposite end of this, just 7% of people from Portsmouth are inclined to shop in local businesses over larger, chain options.
When it comes to Christmas, 81% of UK consumers consider shopping with small businesses for Christmas, with 52% drawn to the personal and thoughtful nature of gifts from independent sellers.
57% said that they don’t mind whether the gifts they receive come from smaller or larger businesses, while 16% prefer to receive a gift from a small business and 10% prefer a larger chain.
Kamilla Fernandes-Pickett, marketing and communications senior manager at Capital on Tap: “To build trust with customers and create a sense of community, small businesses should focus on three key strategies: establish an engaging online presence to keep followers informed, participate in local events to connect face-to-face, and offer personalised products or services to give customers a unique, individual experience.”
