to hope this might reset people's attitudes to consumerism?

[PineappleDanish]

Due to the current restrictions, people can't "shop as a hobby". No mooching round Primark filling your basket with cheaply made fast fashion. No endless beauty hauls in Superdrug. No need for a new outfit every night out because there are no nights out and nowhere to buy new outfits.

Is it being too optimistic to hope that one side-effect of this awful virus might be pressing a collective reset button on just the amount of STUFF people have been buying and make them realise that actually, they don't need it and are as happy without it?

If people are this way inclined don’t you think absence will make the heart grow stronger and they will be straight back out to do it again?

I reckon it depends how long it goes on for. I'm hoping it does give people an opportunity to see how much 'stuff' they already have. Also will depend how much spare cash people will have after all this.

When this is over, the first thing I’ll do is go to The Metrocentre

I think it's a nice thought but, no, I can't see that happening.

I really hope so.

I hope it’ll also stop people making pointless car journeys eg, driving somewhere to walk the dog when there’s a perfectly good outside when you open the front door.

I hope it’ll make people more likely to step outside for a walk with their immediate family for the sheer joy of spending time with them and getting some fresh air.

I hope it’ll make people a bit more patient and considerate towards one another instead of being selfish and only looking out for yourself.

Finally I hope it’ll stop strangers invading my personal space

OP that would be brilliant but, as far as I can tell, most people are absolute fucking idiots so my answer to you is no.

It really depends upon your situation during this time. Due to closure of nursery for 2 kids (and no fees), my DH wfh and me working in a hospital 1 day a week we are saving a lot. Spending quite a bit online though for entertainment and by the looks of things we are not alone by the amount of stuff that is sold out.

Not a chance.

The vacuous idiots who were obsessed with image, status, materialism & consumerism before the pandemic will still be vacuous idiots after it. Re-assessing their priorities & values wold require levels of intellect & self-awareness that they simply don’t possess.

I think the first thing people will do when this is all over is treat themselves to new things because they will feel deprived. Plus many will need new clothes due to putting on weight as they've been so inactive for months.

I'll be trusting myself - but to a cake and a coffee in my local coffee shop, or a week away as we've missed our planned Easter break.

But I'm certainly not desperate for primark or Zara to be open again.

Treating myself. Not trusting.

At the moment fashion and other fripperies seem totally irrelevant. Everyone craves food, family, friends and access to nature. It would be nice if these things continued to be seen as priorities but I suspect that as soon as life goes back to normal we’ll be worrying about what to wear again just like before. Kind of a shame really.

I agree. Worrying about staying healthy and my one “want” being a bottle of semi skimmed milk makes you think differently. I genuinely don’t want or need all the tat I used to buy. I have full wardrobes yet WFH has confirmed that I essentially just wear the same 10 or so things and don’t need most of it. I was definitely an influencers dream customer/mug before all this. No more!

I hope so but somehow doubt it, unless the economic impact on people's incomes is more than just a year or so.

Some people will change their ways. But a lot will just default to their old habits. After the 2008 recession in Ireland we thought the excess of the celtic tiger years were over. But sadly once the economy recovered it was back to multiple holidays, booked out restaurants, perfectly good furniture being skipped because no one wanted second hand stuff etc

I don’t think it’ll last

People are online shopping instead!

It's a nice thought but actually I think we are going to need the people who can still afford it at the end of all this to want to go on the biggest shopping sprees of their lives Or the economy will continue to freefall even further.

Really? I love aimlessly wandering round shops (not primark) and buying lots of nice beauty products. Do you know if I wanted to, I can still do this online and once this is all over I’ll certainly be going shopping - I can’t wait!

There isn’t anything necessarily wrong about buying clothes/other goods including than you absolutely need. Getting the best wearing that you can afford so that they last is a good idea, including for the environment.

I think charity shops will be overwhelmed because people are spending time clearing out the house of things they don’t want or use. Maybe people will buy from there. Alternatively it might lead to a lot of clothes being recycled/pulped as they just won’t cope.

This has been salutary for me. I’ve always been a bit of a spendthrift. That means I’ve got at least a year’s worth of skincare products and toiletries and more clothes than Zara. I’d need to be a centipede to wear all my shoes. Now I’ve come to a screaming halt. I won’t buy any more clothes and shoes until I’ve worn out a lot of what I already own and we’re going to be a lot more careful about the food we buy. My treats will be nice things for the garden and coffee and cake after this.

We were just talking about this today. This has made me do a massive u turn about my habits. I won’t be going back to spending the way we did before.

I talked the talk about a no spend 2020 and in part I have managed but I still wasted plenty more than I should have. Seeing how much money I have already saved in the past two weeks has given me added incentive to really buckle down.
I will be buying a new sofa because my current one is falling apart. The people who change furniture because it no longer matches their colour scheme will probably always be that way.

I think charity shops will be overwhelmed because people are spending time clearing out the house of things they don’t want or use

I'm a charity shop volunteer and I agree. We are usually deluged after Christmas, we are going to be even more deluged when we reopen. So please, if you're having a clear out, ask yourself one simple question: Would I pay money for this? If the answer's probably not, bin it. Unless it's textiles, then label clearly as rags.

Haha, no! As you put it, the only reason people are not shopping is because they can’t. Not because they don’t want to. Once this crisis is over, people will attack shops.