Brexit has pushed online consumers from British to Irish websites
There has been a significant decline in online shopping from British-based websites post-Brexit by Irish comsumers. Picture: Stock
There has been a significant decline in online shopping from British-based websites post-Brexit, with just under half of those who have bought from the UK experiencing some kind of issues with their deliveries.
That’s according to a new survey published by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. It added there has been a corresponding growth in online shopping from Irish-based websites since Britain left the EU with 44% of people surveyed buying more from such websites in 2021.
The latest survey conducted in December 2021 follows similar surveys conducted in 2019 and 2020.
Just over four in 10 (41%) of the 1,000 respondents said Amazon is among the five sites they’d buy from most often.
This was followed by Ebay (10%), Asos (9%), Tesco (8%) and Dunnes Stores (8%).
Just under a quarter (23%) said they don’t buy physical goods online. This rose to 56% for people aged 65 and older.
People were asked if their typical weekly expenditure has changed over the course of the pandemic.
Just over four in 10 (41%) said it has remained the same, 35% said it has increased while 24% said it has decreased.
Those aged 45-54 (43%) are most likely to report an increase in spending during Covid-19, while those aged under 45 (28%) are significantly more likely to report a decrease.
In terms of the Brexit switch in behaviour, the 44% who now say they buy more from Irish-based websites contrasts with the one-in-ten who said in 2019 that they’d buy more from those sites post-Brexit, the CCPC said.
Following the ending of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020, customs duties and other tariffs were applied when buying certain items from Britain.
Of those surveyed, 16% said they’ve stopped buying from British websites altogether since Brexit while 44% said they are buying from Britain less than they did before.
When it comes to delivery of their items from Britain, 44% of people reported unexpected costs or customs charges while 41% reported delivery delays.
